Once in a while a book comes along that is too much fun to put down. This is one of those books. Allan Chapman is in fact an Oxford professor, teaching the history of science, and it shows throughout this book as he shows how scientific discoveries helped make possible the advancement of the fledgling science of Biblical archaeology. The book focuses on major figures who did what can be called adventure tourism to exotic Middle Eastern places, like the... Read more
Art can often convey so much more about a Biblical story than mere words. I’ve just been introduced to this painting by an artist who painted in the late 19th and early 20th century– Henry Tanner (d. 1937). Tanner it is clear wanted to depict a young Mary, surprised or even shocked when the angel came and hailed her and told her the shocking story of what was going to happen to her, provided she agreed to do God’s will. ... Read more
What we know for sure about ANE’s culture is there was a concern for proper burials. The remaining stories in the Abraham cycle are about burials and finding a proper wife for Isaac, from among Abraham’s kin, and not from among the Canaanites . But the initial story in Gen. 23 brings to our attention the Hittites. You would not know this just from reading the Bible but the Hittites had a huge empire, including most of what is Turkey... Read more
BRAIN FOOD I’ve got a genuine replica brain, It’s a collectible edition, I grant it’s not the latest model, But it’s in good condition. It still processes data pretty well Though there are some memory lapses It knows the difference between good and evil, And even between knaves and apses. There’s minimal start up time with the help of good coffee And it can occasionally multi-task But if you want infallible or perfect You’d best not ask. ... Read more
Just when you thought Abraham and Sarah could live happily ever after, Gen. 22 shows up, and as the very first verse indicates, after all that had gone before, God decided to test Abraham. Lest you think he won’t do this to you at some point in your spiritual pilgrimage, read this story carefully. A test is different from a temptation, though in Greek the word ‘pirasmos’ can mean either test or temptation. While God will not tempt you... Read more
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW IF YOU MOVE TO THE SOUTH. 1. A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road. 2. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South. 3. There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no one’s seen before. 4. If it grows, it’ll stick ya. If it crawls, it’ll bite cha. 5. Onced and Twiced... Read more
Without question Gen. 21 is a crucial chapter in the Abraham saga. Here, finally, and after many many anxious years of waiting we hear “and the Lord singled out Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had spoken. And Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age at the set time that God had spoken to him.“. If Abraham knew a set time, he certainly didn’t act like it, or... Read more
Jimmy Carter was one of the most genuinely Christian Presidents we have ever had. When he wasn’t spending 4 years as governor or 4 years as President, he was busy teaching Sunday school and building houses for the poor, but also working to eradicate a dread disease and working for peaceful solutions to international problems– for instance the peace accord brought about between Egypt and Israel, for which he received a Nobel Prize. He lived for 100 years, and his... Read more
The top speed of a cheetah is between 69 to 75 mph, which explains how a county mounty could be pulling him over on a major highway. The moral to this story is surely— cheetah’s never prosper! Read more
You might say that Gen. 20 is a rerun, including the same fearful behavior of Abraham, having his wife say she is his sister. But here in this chapter we learn this is not a bald-face lie, Sarah is in fact the daughter of Terah, though not the daughter of Abraham’s mother. The problem however is this is at best a half-truth, because though Sarah may be Abraham’s half sister, she is also his sole wife. Once again, we... Read more
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