This is a minor abridgement of a huge dialogue, originally posted on 19 March 2002. This is from the good old Internet days (now long gone) when Protestants and Catholics actually dialogued with each other at length. Jason Engwer has long ceased doing so with me, following the evasive, cynical tactics of his comrades James White and James Swan (who used to also engage me at the greatest length, for many years), and I am banned from Jason’s Triablogue site... Read more
Where Was Uz? Job 1:1 (RSV) There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; . . . Uz, according to the book, was in close proximity to the Temanites, the Shuhites, the Naamathites (all noted in Job 2:11), and the Buzites (Job 32:2), as well as possibly the Arabian Desert (1:19). Lamentations 4:21 associates Uz with Edom, which was located to the east and west of the Aravah, or Arabah, the Jordan Rift Valley between... Read more
I will be drawing heavily from an article written by the eminent Bible scholar and historian Edwin M. Yamauchi, entitled, “The archaeological background of Nehemiah.” (1) Nehemiah was the “cupbearer” (Neh. 1:1, 11) to the Persian king Artaxerxes I (r. 465-425 B.C.) (2) Nehemiah 2:1 (RSV) In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. . . . Nehemiah 5:14 Moreover from... Read more
I will be drawing heavily from an article written by the eminent Bible scholar and historian Edwin M. Yamauchi, entitled, “The Archaeological Background of Ezra,” (1). Cyrus the Great (c. 590 or 580 B.C.- c. 529 B.C.) (2) was the founder of the Persian Empire, and reigned as king from 559-530, according to Yamauchi. Notably, during his reign, Babylon was conquered, in 539 B.C. God referred to him as follows: Isaiah 44:28 (RSV) who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my... Read more
John 2:1-2, 6, 11 (RSV) On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; [2] Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. . . . [6] Now six stone jars were standing there, . . . [11] This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him. I differ with the standard acceptance of Cana,... Read more
1 Samuel 27:1-3, 5-7 (RSV) And David said in his heart, “I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines; then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the... Read more
Jonah 1:15, 17 (RSV) So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. . . . And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah 2:1-3, 5-7, 10 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called to the LORD, out of my distress, and he... Read more
Judges 16:25-26, 29-30 (RSV) And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may make sport for us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he made sport before them. They made him stand between the pillars; [26] and Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.” . . . [29] And Samson grasped the two... Read more
The Nature of Papal Infallibility & the Obligatory Discussion of Galileo The book, The Infallibility of the Church (1888) by Anglican anti-Catholic polemicist George Salmon (1819-1904), may be one of the most extensive and detailed — as well as influential — critiques of the Catholic Church ever written. But, as usual with these sorts of works, it’s abominably argued and relentlessly ignorant and/or dishonest, as the critiques listed below amply demonstrate and document. * The most influential and effective anti-Catholic Protestant polemicist today, “Dr” [???] James White,... Read more
King Solomon is traditionally (and I think, solidly) believed to have been king of the United Monarchy of Judah, from c. 970 – c. 931 B.C. We don’t have much at all to establish his existence and influence on history on grounds other than the historically trustworthy Hebrew Bible. I’ve written one article myself, along these lines: Archaeology & Solomon’s Temple-Period Ivory [1-28-23]. I would like to explore the question of Solomon’s legendary “mines” and offer a proposal. Where are... Read more
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