Hezekiah is a towering figure in the Old Testament. In the kingdom of Judah he stands as a first rank reformer, a charismatic and determined leader who from the moment he took power was passionately focused on restoring the worship of Israel’s God. His life is a triumph of zeal for God. Yet there is more going on.
Continue reading “The power of reformation – Hezekiah”
The Psalms is clearly a collection of books. Internal evidence demonstrates the collections/books were separated. Material is duplicated and reworked between the books. This raises some interesting questions for models of inspiration.
Continue reading “Duplication and reuse in Psalms”Learning the lessons
As described in part 1 two days ago[1], predictions were made by Robert Devine 3 years ago that Jesus would return to the Earth at the end of May 2020 and specifically on May 28th.
Continue reading “Was the Return of Jesus on May 28th 2020? Nope.”Do some people know the day and the hour?
On January 1st 2000, a number of Christian preachers predicted that the start of the third millennium would bring about the return of Christ and judgement upon the Earth.
Continue reading “Will the Return of Jesus be on May 28th 2020?”There’s not always an explanation for our suffering
Humans love patterns. This has led to both crazy superstitions along with many useful discoveries. Pestilence is not a new thing. Sometimes it is a direct punishment of God (eg Num 25, 1 Chron 21). Other times it was a sign of significant events – like AD 70 in Luke 21:11. But are such events always sent by God for a purpose?
Continue reading “Is Covid 19 God’s doing?”Sometimes scripture doesn’t work the way we expect it to. A great example of this can be found in seeing what scripture cites, and how it cites it. If we follow up some of the citations we come across in the pages of the bible we sometimes find ourselves in unexpected places, reading unexpected things.
Continue reading “7 Strange Citations in the Scriptures”On the applicability of Kosher law
Looking at social media in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic can often be a thankless task, particularly reading things written by other Christians. One thing that crops up a lot is the reference to bats within the Kosher laws in Leviticus 11.13-19:
These, moreover, you shall detest among the birds; they are abhorrent, not to be eaten: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, and the kite and the falcon in its kind, every raven in its kind, and the ostrich and the owl and the sea gull and the hawk in its kind, and the little owl and the cormorant and the great owl, and the white owl and the pelican and the carrion vulture, and the stork, the heron in its kinds, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
Leviticus 11.13-19
I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that these verses get quoted when rumours frequently circulate that the source of SARS-CoV-2 is from bat soup. It’s well known that cultures in the far East are much more relaxed about eating animals that we in the West wouldn’t want to eat. Add to that many rumours that eating a bat started this whole thing off, potentially killing hundreds of thousands of people, and it seems to be fair game to quote verses from the law of Moses that forbid eating such creatures. It’s surely game, set and match.
Continue reading “Bat soup crazy”You can’t have your radiometric dating and reject it too
When the news broke of new research that showed a British origin for Late Bronze age tin ingots found off Israel’s Mediterranean coast there was great excitement across our community. It was brought up in lectures, written up in ecclesial newsletters, and splashed all over Christadelphian YouTube.
Continue reading “Tin from Tarshish”Not a problem to be fixed
Regular readers of the New Testament are likely to notice differences between the four gospel narratives of Jesus’ life and teaching. While John’s account varies considerably from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it is these three synoptic[1] gospels where, by virtue of their similarity, the narrative contrasts appear sharpest.
Continue reading “Disharmony in the gospels”Mark, Jesus, the empire, and us
As we engage in reading the Bible, we cannot avoid speaking of kingdoms or empires. Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Romans, Greeks, not to mention the Israelite monarchy itself. Although we may happen to live in democratic countries, not within powerful empires of old, we may still be governed in many ways by some sort of imperial power, for instance that of capitalist economics.[1]
Continue reading “Caesar’s empire? Or God’s?”
Living Faith 