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Works & Methodology

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The following overview lists all works elaborated by this ministry in the years from 2012 until 2023. All works are being constantly updated and perfected.

Recommendations

  1. Books  ·  300 Christian Books (2020-23)
  2. Books  ·  60+ Reviews (2019-23)
  3. Movies  ·  300 Christian Movies (2019-23)
  4. Movies  ·  Free Movies (2022-23)
  5. Music  ·  300 Christian Songs (2019-23)
  6. Music  ·  Hymns (2020)
  7. Music  ·  Instrumentals (2020)
  8. Music  ·  Lyric Videos (Animated) (2019)
  9. Music  ·  Lyrics Videos (Live Videos) (2019)
  10. Music  ·  Song Stories (2019)
  11. Music  ·  Videos (2019)

Studies

  1. Map  ·  Interactive Bible Map (2021-23)
  2. Studies  ·  Bible  ·  Canon (2022-23)
  3. Studies  ·  Bible  ·  Apocrypha (2023)
  4. Studies  ·  Bible  ·  Non-canonical Writings (2021-23)
  5. Studies  ·  Bible  ·  Non-canonical  ·  Enoch Refuted (2021)
  6. Studies  ·  Bible  ·  Non-canonical  ·  Jubilees Refuted (2021)
  7. Studies  ·  Bible  ·  Presentation (2020-23)
  8. Studies  ·  Bible  ·  Presentation (Spanish) (2012-22)
  9. Studies  ·  Bible  ·  Septuagint (2021-23)
  10. Studies  ·  CHRIST's Death & Resurrection  ·  Study (2021-23)
  11. Studies  ·  CHRIST's Death & Resurrection  ·  The Year (2022, unpublished)
  12. Studies  ·  Church History (2021-23)
  13. Studies  ·  Creation  ·  Chart (2022-23) 
  14. Studies  ·  Creation  ·  Study (2021-23)
  15. Studies  ·  Creation  ·  Historical Adams (2022)
  16. Studies  ·  Eden (2021-23)
  17. Studies  ·  End Times  ·  Study (2021-23)
  18. Studies  ·  End Times  ·  Book of Daniel (2022-23)
  19. Studies  ·  Flood of Noah  ·  Study (2021-23)
  20. Studies  ·  Flood of Noah  ·  Chronology (2021-22)
  21. Studies  ·  Genealogies  ·  Chart (2021-23)
  22. Studies  ·  Genealogies  ·  Study (2021-23)
  23. Studies  ·  Laws of THEOS  ·  Study (2019-23)
  24. Studies  ·  Laws of THEOS  ·  Comparison (2021-23)
  25. Studies  ·  Numbers (2022-23)
  26. Studies  ·  One Anothering (2021-23)
  27. Studies  ·  Promises (2020)
  28. Studies  ·  Prophecies (2021)
  29. Studies  ·  Sabbaths  ·  Study (2021-23)
  30. Studies  ·  Sabbaths  ·  Verse-by-Verse (2021-23)
  31. Studies  ·  Salvation  ·  Study (2021-23)
  32. Studies  ·  Salvation  ·  Chart (2021-23)
  33. Studies  ·  Salvation  ·  Once Saved Always Saved? (2022-23)
  34. Studies  ·  Spiritual Gifts  ·  Study (2020-23)
  35. Studies  ·  Spiritual Gifts  ·  Continuationism vs. Cessationism (2022-23)
  36. Studies  ·  Symbolism (2021)
  37. Studies  ·  Theophanies (2021)
  38. Studies  ·  THEOS Speaks (2021-23)
  39. Studies  ·  Timeline  ·  Study (2020-23)
  40. Studies  ·  Timeline  ·  Chart (2021-23)
  41. Studies  ·  The Beginning, Ages, Generations & Last Days (2023)
  42. Studies  ·  Trinity  ·  Study (2020-23)
  43. Studies  ·  Trinity  ·  Divine & Human Beings (2022-23)
  44. Studies  ·  Trinity  ·  Chart of 'theos' (gods) references (2023)
  45. Studies  ·  Virtues & Vices (2020-23)
  46. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Abortion (2021-23)
  47. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Age Groups (2022-23)
  48. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Alcohol (2021)
  49. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Baptism (2021-23)
  50. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Clothing (2021-23)
  51. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Communion (2021-23)
  52. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Fasting (2021-23)
  53. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Food (2021-22-23)
  54. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Giving vs. Tithing (2021-23)
  55. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Hair & Head Covering (2022-23)
  56. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Homosexuality (2021-23)
  57. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Marriage & Divorce (2021-23)
  58. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Predestination & Free Will (2021-23)
  59. Studies  ·  Topics  ·  Sexual Discipline(s) (2022-23)
  60. Studies  ·  Words  ·  Anger (2021-23)
  61. Studies  ·  Words  ·  Discipline (2021-23)
  62. Studies  ·  Words  ·  Faith (2021-23)
  63. Studies  ·  Words  ·  Gospel (2022-23)
  64. Studies  ·  Words  ·  Heavens (2022-23)
  65. Studies  ·  Words  ·  Kingdom of THEOS / Heaven (2021-23)
  66. Studies  ·  Words  ·  Love (2021-23)
  67. Studies  ·  Words  ·  Religion (2021-23)
  68. Studies  ·  Words  ·  Tongue (2021-23)
  69. Studies  ·  Words  ·  Works of Faith vs. Law (2021-23)

Discernment

  1. Studies  ·  False Teachers  ·  Identification (2021-23)
  2. Studies  ·  False Teachers  ·  The List (2021-23)
  3. Studies  ·  False Teachers  ·  Types (2021-23)
  4. Discernment  ·  Books & Authors (2022-23)
  5. Discernment  ·  Movies & Actors (2022-23)
  6. Discernment  ·  Music (2022-23)

* Those stats do not include the unregistered views from 2019 until 08/2022.

* The positions do not include the Discernment-List with 4600+ views (09/2023)

Methodology 

1. The author of this ministry is not part of any denomination, which provides an added value to this ministry - not only resulting in independent Bible studies but especially allowing unbiased discernment. He has regularly attended or held membership in independent, Baptist, Evangelical Free, Mennonite, Pentecostal and even Reformed churches in Germany, Colombia and Canada. The overall result is a traditionally minded Christian who is pro-church but not associated with any particular denomination. He is grateful for this diversity of training and experience that helped him to appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of various (not-so) Christian traditions.

2. Do not be afraid of colours. While black & white is still the (moderately attractive) norm today, not even the biblical scrolls had been black & white. The background used by this ministry symbolizes the royal colour and the comfortably readable white letters symbolize purity, enriched by gold to underline important aspects and by red & green to further highlight and / or contrast aspects between good & evil or between Old & New Covenant. The author intentionally prioritizes a quick optical surveying over a common limitation to not use more than 2 colours in professional documents.

3. While Jews are traditionally overzealous in not even pronouncing the name of THEOS (or rather G-d which is not His name), we have even lost the basic respect by writing 'He', 'His' and 'Him' in lower case. This is comfortable for translators as it avoids many decisions e.g. in the book of Revelation - if it is now 'he' (anyone) or 'He' (JESUS CHRIST) who stomps the winepress. All articles of this ministry are now reflected with capital letters, in order to avoid a decrease in perceived holiness. Every Bible translator should urgently do the same and not shy away from some difficult calls. Other capitalizations are seen through the words 'Gospel', 'Heaven', 'Kingdom', 'Scripture' and a few other important concepts of the Bible such as His 'Second Coming'.

4. 99% of ministers do not only use black & white, but also the 'Word' style. Now 'Excel' was and is essential for this ministry and I would warmly recommend it to any other minister of CHRIST. Firstly, it is much more readable, because it avoids long lines, breaks those into easier readable blocks and simply refreshes the mind of the reader. Secondly, it is the key for best organizing complex biblical structures / combinations of Bible verses.

5. If the author would have used 'Word' for Bible studies, those studies would probably be more rudimentary in its theological content and would require easily 50 - 150 % more descriptive words. The 'Excel' style helps enormously to keep things short, while the 'Word' style often stretches the patience of the reader, especially in times of Youtube or Netflix, where a believer rather watches a 3-hour movie than reading through lengthy articles. I can also not avoid this dilemma entirely, but offer a bridge between the Youtube generation and the lengthy 'Word' articles, while compacting the information, providing as many Bible verses as possible and organizing them with only a few own words / interpretations / conclusions.

6. You will not find the usual combination of 95 - 99% of scholarly interpretation, decorated with 1 - 5 % of Bible verses. We have become way too intellectual and assume in unwritten rules that a churchgoer is bored if we use more than 5 Bible verses in a sermon or an article. But this is surely not the methodology of the First Century Christians nor of CHRIST and His Apostles. We have to go back to the roots and let Scripture speak more than our own intellect and eloquence. We commonly love to hear us speak, but real love is to hear THEOS speak.

7. All Bible verses are hyperlinked and readable in context. For reasons of space and streamlined readability, parts of Bible verses not relevant for the respective subject are often shortened by '[...]', or by '...' at the beginning or end of Bible verses. All verses are written in italic words, while comments of this author are inserted by '[comment]' in standard letters (similar principle as Amplified Bible).

8. Bible translations used for this ministry: the unsurpassed and relatively unknown Apostolic Bible Polyglot (ABR:Septuagint - for own research), the very nuanced J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible (EBR:Masoretic - for own research; one of the most accurate English translations available today), and for published studies and easier readability a variety of translations (EBR, ESV, LXX, KJV, LEB, YLT ... formerly the NLT), plus tools such as Logos, StudyLight and e-Sword including the very important Strong's dictionary.

9. All Bible studies are not dated, but constantly being updated. The aim of this ministry is not to throw out a schedule of a certain amount of studies per year and to differentiate between older and newer studies, but to have a solid stock of a limited amount of principle Bible topics (72 will probably be that limit, reached in 2023) and perfect those over the years as ultimate resource for students and other teachers. When believers and scholars fall into the habit of constantly needing something new very fast, it results in moderately researched or incomplete works, and ultimately into cherry-picking Bible verses and falling for certain tendencies such as 'Belief Only', 'Grace Only' or 'Once Saved Always Saved'. If we would take more time for investigation and rather teach the full picture of the Word, then we would also leave less leverage for false teachers. Instead, a hastily preached and often selective Gospel enables false teachers to go one step further and to preach in even more unbalanced ways.

10. The author strives for transparency & honesty when it comes to interpretation, by using key words such as 'certain', 'most probably', 'probably', 'possibly' or 'rather not'. He avoided for example in the study 'End Times' many pitfalls such as the duration of the tribulation, but listed several options and clearly stated that we simply cannot know - instead of pretending, spiritualizing and tweaking Scripture. Mt. Sinai in Saudi Arabia is clearly marked as possible location, while the Garden of Eden is boldly proclaimed as the certain location. The crucifixion of CHRIST on day 6 of Passover is again proclaimed as certain, while a parallel study trying to find the year of His martyrdom was very soon unpublished by the author, when realizing that - although the result harmonized with many traditional calculations - it cannot be considered as certain and is also a secondary topic not relevant for Salvation. The author developed the understanding to rather not consider content that is not certain. Jam 3:1

11. The author of this ministry does -not- focus on extrabiblical and historical sources as so often done in order to offer 'special' information. He adds those in some cases (e.g. the study on the Apocrypha & Biblical Canon where it is unavoidable), but focuses primarily on the Word itself. 

We have to be aware of the fact that quoting history and / or historians opens the gate for every kind of false teaching (as perfectly seen in topics such as the Sabbaths or Divorce), because we can find a historian for nearly every theology we want to propagate. This would not be such a problem if we would only use reliable historians. But this is definitely not the case as perfectly seen by the common use e.g. of the church fathers 'Augustine' or 'Origen', both very problematic figures of 'Christian' history. Even characters such as 'Constantine', responsible for effectively abolishing the 4th commandment up to our generation, is regularly quoted without any discerning remarks by scholars. At the end of the day we have to go back to the Word and avoid extrabiblical sources - what is possible in the vast majority of Bible studies.

12. The name of our FATHER is not God, which is a man-made construct first documented in the 6th c. AD in the Codex Argentus. We cannot give THEOS a name that is not even closely related to any biblical inspiration, and go as far as to translate His name in different ways in different languages. THEOS gave Himself many names in the biblical context, but this beautiful and often descriptive variety does not generate an allowance for humans to add a name completely foreign to the Bible.

We would also never imagine to change the name of JESUS CHRIST to an artificial word we find more suitable. Mat 1:16 reads "of Mary, from out of whom was born Jesus, the One being called CHRIST." Greek " … ΜΑΡIΑC EΞ HC EΓΕΝΝHΘΗ IΗCΟYC (iesous) O ΛΕΓOΜΕΝΟC ΧΡΙCΤOC (christos).

His name is predominantly 'THEOS' in Greek (Strong's G2316: 3649 occurences in the OT & NT) and also 'ELOHIM' in Modern Hebrew (Strong's H430: 2338 occurrences in the OT).

I am currently in the process of exchanging 'God' for 'THEOS' throughout all the studies. 

13. All works listed above are created by Thomas Lorenz. The author is not responsible nor liable for linked content and does not always agree with the overall theology of those sources. This should especially be apparent in the Discernment of Problematic Teachers, where more than 3000 references surely will include some discernment ministers he would agree with on the respective discernment, but not on their overall work.

Fair Use / Copyright Notices

This website -especially the section 'Discernment'- contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, religious, and 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in the respective copyright laws. The material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed an interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

ABP (Apostolic Bible Polyglot): Some studies include ABP text with a total of less than five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher.

Brenton: Some studies include the translation by Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton. 

This translation is dedicated to the public domain. All uses are freely permitted.

BSB (Berean Standard Bible): Some studies include BSB text. 

The Berean Bible and Majority Bible texts are officially dedicated to the public domain as of April 30, 2023. All uses are freely permitted.

ESV (English Standard Version): Some studies include ESV text with a total of less than five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, nor do those verses quoted amount to more than one-half of any one book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for 25 percent or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted.

"Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language."

KJV (King James Version): Some studies include KJV text with a total of less than five hundred (500) verses and neither amount to a complete book of the Bible, nor represent 25 per cent or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted.

"Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown's patentee, Cambridge University Press"

LEB (Lexham English Bible): Most studies include LEB text, make up less than 25% of the substantive content of the website and are linked respectively.

"Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software."

Young's Literal Translation: Some studies include YLT text. This Bible version is public domain due to copyright expiration. 

All photos on this website -if not referenced otherwise- are taken either by Thomas Lorenz or are being provided by the online website builder system used for this website.

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