Christ in the Wilderness (1872), by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoi (1837-1887) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (3-28-08) *** From the Coming Home Network board. I’ll paraphrase the initial questions in blue. * * * * * March 25 The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Commonly called Lady Day from Butler’s Lives of the Saints for March 25, page 674: . . . the mystery of love and mercy promised to mankind thousands of years earlier, foretold by so many prophets,... Read more
Christ in Gethsemane (1880), by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (4-19-05) *** The following is from a thread on Steve Ray’s Catholic Message Board. The words of the person (“Lojahw”) who asserted Nestorian heresy will be in blue. ***** Whatever Nestorius’ actual opinions (scholars differ), Lojahw’s opinions are indeed heretical. He wrote: Mary indeed contributed to Jesus His human nature, His weakness. As the writer of Hebrews declared: Heb 4:15 One who has been tempted in... Read more
. . . and Practiced by St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. John After the Death of Jesus First century southern steps of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem (photo by Mark A. Wilson, 5-28-09). Jesus and the apostles walked these. So did I in October 2014. [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** Matthew 5:23-24 (RSV) So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,[24] leave your gift there before the... Read more
(vs. Colin Smith) Photograph by Xuan Che (12-30-05) [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license] *** (10-14-06) ***** Reformed Baptist apologist James White enlisted his fellow Calvinist friend, Colin Smith, to respond to my article concerning who hardened Pharaoh’s heart. “Dr.” [???] White wrote: Yesterday on the DL I mentioned the appearance on Roman Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong’s blog of a brief statement on Romans 9. As much as I wanted to respond to it myself, I had to finish a project... Read more
The Lord’s Prayer, by James Tissot (1836-1902) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (11-7-08) *** A self-described Hebrew Catholic asked on the Coming Home Network board: The Catechism and the RSV translate Gk opheilemata as trespasses in the Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6:12), when it manifestly means debts — both in the NT usage (Rm 4:4) and in the Septuagint (Dt 24:10). Why? The concept of sins as debts is a midrash that ties in the Year of Jubilee (Lv. 25)... Read more
Partial view of the Mandelbrot set. Step 11 of a zoom sequence: Double-spirals with satellites of second order. Analog to the “seahorses” the double-spirals can be interpreted as a metamorphosis of the “antenna”. Created by Wolfgang Beyer with the program Ultra Fractal 3 [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] *** (7-3-10) *** See the two previous installments: Reply to Atheist on “Fabricated” OT Messianic Prophecies and Reply to Atheist on Isaiah 53 & “Dishonest” Christians. To learn more about Mitch / “ProfMTH”:... Read more
Original manga logo (Shinobu Kaitani: 2005) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (7-2-10) *** See my previous installment, Reply to Atheist on “Fabricated” OT Messianic Prophecies, to learn more about Mitch / “ProfMTH”: an atheist who loves to try to shoot down the Bible. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to illustrate my longtime contention that atheists (or at least the more vocal, polemical, provocative ones) are usually out to sea and guilty of the most basic misunderstandings and fallacies when it... Read more
. . . Rather Than Fair Dialogue [Pixabay / CC0 public domain] *** Oftentimes today we see people writing about who-knows-who: someone they refuse to name; therefore, we can’t see his or her comments in context and in their entirety. And they can’t respond. You know: that thing that used to be routine: letting someone defend themselves against a charge . . . Free speech; fair and open and open-minded dialogue . . . quaint and antiquated notions, now becoming as... Read more
Head of Christ, by Rembrandt (1606-1669) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (1997) *** A Baptist friend of mine stated: Jesus Himself was not unable to sin. I realize that God the Father is unable to sin; however, Jesus, though He was in nature God, was able to sin. This is evident in this verse “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In
Isaiah 53: Jewish-Christian Dialogue: Who is the “Servant”?
Is the “Servant” the Messiah (Jesus) or Collective Israel? (vs. Ari G. [Orthodox] ) Image by “LittleGreyCoconut” (3-31-15) [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license] *** (9-14-01, with incorporation of much research from 1982) ***** The following exchange, which I enjoyed very much, was undertaken on a public Catholic bulletin board in early September 2001 with an Orthodox Jew whose name on the board was “Ari G.” His words will be in blue. I asked him if he would like to... Read more