[This article is post #2 of a multiple-post review I am doing of Richard Bauckham’s book, “Son of Man”: Volume 1: Early Jewish Literature (Eerdmans, 2023). Click here to see post #1.] In Richard Bauckham’s book “Son of Man”: Volume 1: Early Jewish Literature (2023), in his chapter on “The Messianic Figure … in the Parables of Enoch,” he informs that the renaissance of scholarly interest in the ancient Book of Enoch, which is more precisely identified as 1 Enoch,... Read more
I Love “Son of Man Study” [This “post #1” is the first of a series of seven posts that are a review of Richard Bauckham’s book, “Son of Man”: Volume 1: Early Jewish Literature.] My favorite biblical study for about the past thirty years has been what scholars call “Son of Man study.” It is because, according to the New Testament (NT) gospels, Jesus used this expression, “the Son of Man,” and applied it to himself way more than any... Read more
President Donald Trump recounted Monday in his Inauguration Day about the assassination attempt on his life last summer in Pennsylvania at a political rally. He had amazingly turned his head at the very instant when the assassin’s bullet stuck his ear, making it quite bloody. As he was standing at the lectern, his body guards pushed him down to protect him. Seconds later Mr. Trump stood up, raising his right hand with clenched fist and shouting at his perceived assassin... Read more
Donald F. Trump was sworn in on this Inauguration Day as U.S. president for the second time, but this time without placing his hand on the Bible. His wife, Melania, stood beside him holding two Bibles. The first time Mr. Trump was sworn-in as president, in 2017, he held up his right hand as a promise to protect the U.S. Constitution and placed his left hand on a Bible as if to verify his promise before the God of the... Read more
This weekend in Washington, D.C., NASA and Carnegie Science are celebrating a centennial discovery at the 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society. It is Edwin Hubble’s discovery with his telescope in 1923 of a star outside of the Milky Way Galaxy, which is home to our Earth. Previously, most astronomers had thought our galaxy was the only one in our universe so the edge of our Milky Way Galaxy was the edge of the universe. Instead, Hubble’s discovery of... Read more
President Joe Biden will exit the White House in one week with his legacy severely tarnished by his response to the ongoing fifteen-month Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Israel had responded to the Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 Israeli Jews in one day, on October 7, 2023, by invading the Gaza Strip and so far killing over 45,000 Palestinians, with the large majority of them being civilian casualties. This disproportionate killing has angered much of the world. But... Read more
Nearly all scientists who study global warming/climate change have been warning that most of it is due to humans burning fossil fuels since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, 150 years ago. One of its destructive results is that it is causing oceans to rise as a threat to flooding coastal areas. In the U.S. insurance companies are now beginning to withdraw their offerings of flood insurance in some coastal areas of Florida and other states. Yet president-elect Donald Trump... Read more
The word “Gog” appears only in two places in biblical prophecies, in Ezekiel 38-39 and Revelation 20.8. Some interpreters think these texts refer to the same prophetic event, whereas others, like me, do not. It often depends on your millennial position. Post-millennialists and a-millennialists usually equate these texts, whereas premillennialists, like me, do not. These viewpoints hinge mostly on “a thousand years” mentioned six times in Revelation 20. It says the deceased people of God “came to life and reigned... Read more
Archaeological Find of a Cross-shaped Amulet A Popular Mechanics online article today reports that a Christian amulet recently was discovered in 2018 in an archaeological dig of an ancient gravesite in Germany that may change some history about Christianity. This amulet is a silver cross about 1.4 inches tall with 18 lines of inscription in Latin. It dates back to between 240 and 270 AD. It was found in a gravesite on a human, male skeleton just below the bony remains... Read more
I wrote days ago about The Quest for the Historical Jesus at the Society of Biblical Literature’s Annual Meeting I attended late last month. I said this 250-year academic study has in the past few years entered into its fourth stage. Some call it the Fourth Quest for the Historical Jesus. It is by far the most extensive investigation ever undertaken by scholars of some famous person in history. This fourth stage or quest concerns only the accounts of Jesus... Read more
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