Enigmatic Mirror
From James Davila Read more
From James Davila Read more
“The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.” (Joel 2:31) This passage from Joel (quoted in Acts 2:20, and alluded to in Rev. 6:12) is believed by many to refer to the astronomical phenomena of the “Blood Moon,” an eclipse-like event where the earth casts a red shadow on the moon. Such an event happened... Read more
Imagine a situation where a group of doctors agree that a patient has cancer, but they disagree about whether he is afflicted with leukemia, pancreatic cancer, or a brain tumor. We could, of course, make the claim that all the doctors agree. On the other hand, the appropriate treatment for each type of cancer differs dramatically. What would be the benefit of brain surgery if you really have pancreatic cancer? In this situation the fact that there is a consensus... Read more
John Gee has some interesting criticisms of the “Jesus’ Wife” fragment, which he believes is a forgery. http://fornspollfira.blogspot.com/2012/10/why-gospel-of-jesuss-wife-is-forgery.html Read more
Empirical Evidence It is very important to realize that there is absolutely no empirical textual evidence to support any aspect of the Documentary Hypothesis. That is to say, no ancient manuscripts or textual fragments have been found which divide any portion of the Pentateuch into the alleged JEDP documents. This is precisely why it is called the Documentary Hypothesis. And it is precisely why there are so many variant interpretations. On the one hand, this is not necessarily evidence against... Read more
All of the old materials from my previous blog “Mormon Scripture Explorations” has now been imported to “Enigmatic Mirror.” Read more
The principles I outlined earlier in DH 9 and 10 on dating ancient texts face a serious methodological problem when it comes to dating texts that claim to be prophecies. It has become almost an axiom among secular biblical scholars that if a text accurately prophesies of a future event, that text must have been written after the prophesied event. This argument of course begs the question of whether God can know the future, and reveal it to humans. All... Read more
4- Anachronisms—inconsistent dates, events, or features of a text. An anachronism is a feature of a text that doesn’t fit the claimed or perceived date of an ancient text. A simple example of an anachronism would be if a text described Jesus taking an airplane from Nazareth to Jerusalem. Most anachronisms, however, are much more subtle than this. For example, medieval art consistently depicts soldiers in biblical stories using medieval arms and armor. Although this is anachronistic, it does not... Read more
The results of the lengthy study of the “Jesus’ Wife fragment” have recently been published in the Harvard Theological Review. You can download a pdf file of the article by clicking in icon in the upper lefthand corner. Here is the fragmentary translation provided in this article. 1 ] “not [to] me. My mother gave me li[fe . . .” 2 ] .” The disciples said to Jesus, “. [ 3 ] deny. Mary is (not?) worthy of it [... Read more
Alas, I fear this new plan will only increase scriptural illiteracy and proof texting. Read more
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