Genesis 12:5-6 (RSV) And Abram took Sar’ai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they had gotten in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, [6] Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Genesis 33:18 And Jacob [Abraham’s grandson] came… Read more
My last update received was in February 2020, so it’s been about a year and a half. I tested with Living DNA rather than Ancestry.com (like my wife Judy) and am glad that I did, because it (uniquely) breaks up the British Isles into 20 areas, offering a wonderful specificity with regard to an already ethnically and genetically complex region; and that is my main ethnicity. Here’s how it breaks down: Europe: 98.5% Arabia: 1.5% * Now I break it… Read more
In my previous installment, I established that the city of Ur (present Urfa) in Turkey was in existence when Abraham (c. 1813- c. 1638 BC) was born there. I know it sounds ridiculous; I am deliberately being silly to poke fun at the excessive skepticism of atheists and theological liberals, who are always defining people away as myths and legends (their brains being particularly fertile birthplaces for new myths). My goal, in many recent articles on biblical archaeology, is to… Read more
The first thing I hear when I criticize fanatical, extreme, hysterical, incessant, never-ending criticism of Pope Francis is, “you think a pope can never be criticized for anything!” If I had a dime for every time I have heard this lie, I’d be a rich man. I have never believed that the pope can never be criticized. I’ve written several times about this: On Rebuking Popes & Catholic Obedience to Popes [12-27-17] On Rebuking Popes & Obedience to Popes, Part II [12-28-17]… Read more
I’ve now written three articles related to Pope Francis’ document, Traditionis custodes: Pope Francis’ Traditionis Custodes is for the Sake of Unity [7-16-21] Skojec Loathes Traditionis; Illustrates Why it is Necessary [7-19-21] Catholics (?) Trash, Judge, & Mind-Read the Pope (In 1968, “all” the liberal Catholics rejected Humanae Vitae. Now in 2021, “all” the self-described “conservative” Catholics reject Traditionis Custodes — and none see the outright absurdity and irony of this) [7-20-21] The first analyzed Traditionis itself. The second illustrated that even well-known reactionaries like Steve Skojec (of One… Read more
In 1968, “all” the liberal Catholics rejected Humanae Vitae. Now in 2021, “all” the self-described “conservative” Catholics reject Traditionis Custodes (and none see the outright absurdity and irony of this) I hasten to clarify that I am not denying (by my rhetorical question mark) that these folks are canonical, doctrinal, creedal Catholics, or by virtue of their baptism, etc. My point is that in so acting, they violate the very essence and spirit of what it means to be a… Read more
Genesis 11:27-28 (RSV) Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. [28] Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chalde’ans. Genesis 11:31 Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sar’ai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chalde’ans [Ur Kasdim] to go into the land… Read more
The Broad Definition of “King” in the Ancient Near East, + Biblical Use of “Chiefs of Edom” Atheist anti-theist Jonathan M. S. Pearce is the main writer on the blog, A Tippling Philosopher. His “About” page states: “Pearce is a philosopher, author, blogger, public speaker and teacher from Hampshire in the UK. He specialises in philosophy of religion, but likes to turn his hand to science, psychology, politics and anything involved in investigating reality.” His words will be in blue. ***** I am responding to a… Read more
[see book and purchase information] I just wrote about the new papal document: Pope Francis’ Traditionis Custodes is for the Sake of Unity (7-16-21). I predicted what the reaction to it would be: The only dispute is whether the problem was bad enough to justify a “clamping down” on the relatively free availability of the extraordinary form Mass. Pope Francis thought it was serious enough of a problem; so did the bishops. His critics won’t accept their judgment no matter what (and that… Read more
Pope Francis issued on 16 July 2021 the Apostolic Letter Issued “Motu proprio” entitled Traditionis Custodes. He also issued an explanatory letter to the bishops, to accompany this document. The latter is of extreme importance for understanding the motivations of the former. A Motu proprio document is of relatively lesser authority than other papal documents. The old Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) explained that this sort of document “decided on by the pope personally, that is, not on the advice of the cardinals or others,… Read more
