Genesis as Ancestor Epic, Part II: What is an Ancient Creation Story?
In a recent post we began discussing the nature of Genesis as an ancestor epic—the stories that a people tell themselves about how they almost weren’t a people. Crises have…
Genesis as Ancestor Epic, Part I: Getting with the Program
When reading any document it helps to know what you are reading. Is this document a comic meant to be funny, mocking or otherwise derisive? Is this document a fiction…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
Law, What’s it Even Good For?
So, in a recent post I discussed the church’s first heresy (Judaizers/the circumcision party) who sought to require gentiles to become Jews before becoming Christians, or in addition to becoming…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
Torah Food Laws & Gentile Lobsters
One of the challenges of being a Biblical theologian rather than a systematic theologian (no disrespect to Systematic theology or Systematic Theologians intended) is to speak about theological issues rooted…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Language Issues
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
What You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know about the “Still Small Voice” Could Fill A Blog Post
Today we have a recently engaged guest Blogger. John Donnelly is a Biblical Literacy Ministries Educator, Church Planter, & Part-year missionary to India. John has a Master’s in Old Testament…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Though Your Sins be Made White as Snow, You Still Might Goof Isaiah 1:18: Part 2—Nasty Grammar Questions
In part 1 of this series, I focused on the tendency to make too many assumptions about color terms in the Bible. The dilemma is that while we have no…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Though Your Sins be Made White as Snow, You Still Might Goof Isaiah 1:18: Part 3—Context
In parts 1 & 2 we discussed the wide range of possibilities available to us for Isaiah 1:18 in keeping with both the flexibility of dye/color imagery in the Biblical…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
Old Testament Studies
Text Criticism Issues
Re-imagining David and Goliath—Hey Big Boy?
We’ve been discussing the puzzle of David’s assault on Goliath, whether David hit Goliath in the head or the leg, given that the Hebrew terms for forehead and grieve are…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Re-imagining David and Goliath—Slings of Outrageous Proportion
In our last David and Goliath post, we considered the puzzle regarding David’s defeat of Goliath. The place where David struck Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:49 is the same Hebrew…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Re-imagining David and Goliath: Foreheads, Legs, and Sling Stones
Imagination has a good deal to do with how the story of David & Goliath is used in modern times, even among scholars and in commentaries. Given its status as…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Studies
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
A Tongue Lashing over Tongues
Let’s face it, the Corinthian church was a mess. They remind me of the struggles of frontier ministers, like Peter Cartwright, who once beat the crud out of some hecklers,…
An Argument for Flexible Interpretation in Isaiah 44:18
The identity of “HE” in Isaiah 44:18 is in the end a mystery, but the question itself and the journey that results from the pursuit of an answer is invaluable.…
Who Put the Us in Genesis?
In Genesis 1:26, we find, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Genesis 3:22 reads, “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has…
Becoming Like our Idols in Isaiah 44:18
We’ve been considering the identity of the grand “HE” in Isaiah 44:18. Speaking of those who make and worship idols, Isaiah says, “They do not know; they do not understand…
And Justice for All: The Theological Thrust of Psalm 82
I’ve been asked to preach Psalm 82 in a couple weeks. I was a bit wary at first. The text is rife with scholarly controversy and I was uncertain that…
God, Idols and the Human Heart in Isaiah 44:18
In our last post on Isaiah 44:18, “Why Is It So Hard to Translate Isaiah 44:18?” we posited the translation “They do not know; they do not understand because he…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Theology
Take My Daughters, Please!—The Righteous Offering of Lot’s Daughters
Yes, you read that title correctly, but don’t throw stones, yet. There are things to be discovered in this event that our modern gender issues, word meanings and culture may…
The Great HE in Isaiah 44:18: Does God Keep People from Repenting?
Who is the grand “HE” in Isaiah 44:18. Of Idol makers and Idol worshipers, Isaiah says, “They do not know; they do not understand because he plastered over their eyes…
Drama and Ditty in Isaiah 28:1-13
Isaiah 28:10 is one of those verses that people love to use as a tagline to add a feeling of dedicated, diligent, and trustworthy study of Scripture in their endeavors,…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Theology
Getting out the Pagan Within Part 5: The Significance of the Central Saying—A Biblical Theology of I Samuel 15:27-31
Samuel’s speech to Saul in 1 Samuel 15:28-29 contains an important theological message for both Saul and the reader. It’s meaning, however, has been concealed within rather strange cultural practices…