The 28th chapter of the book of Job is a wisdom poem or hymn addressing the question “Where is wisdom found?”. This wisdom poem represents a significant departure from the cycle of dialog and speeches that circle around the cause of Job’s suffering. Job consistently insists on his righteousness and looks for justice he fears he will not find while the others insist that he must deserve his fate because God is just. If Job suffers he cannot be innocent.... Read more
What could women in the Jewish world do in public? This is often overstated in order to dramatize the difference with Jesus and the early churches. So a good look at some of the evidence may help all of us. First: Commandments and Religious Service: women are excluded from commandments pertaining to religious service “because women are not obligated to fulfill commandments” (tBerakot 7:18; bMenahot 43b). But, though attempts were made, no clear operative rule developed to discern which commandments were... Read more
Rand Paul: Making the case against excessive American engagement overseas, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) reminded social conservatives Thursday that Jesus was anti-war. “I can recall no utterance of Jesus in favor of war or any acts of aggression,” Paul said at a kickoff luncheon for the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference. “In fact, his message to his disciples was one of non-resistance.”… Paul stressed that America needs a strong military but that it should be used sparingly. “I believe individuals... Read more
From Education News: As the dissatisfaction with the U.S. education system among parents grows, so does the appeal of homeschooling. Since 1999, the number of children who are being homeschooled has increased by 75% in all states including Arizona, Texas, and California. Although currently only 4% of all school children nationwide are educated at home, the number of primary school kids whose parents choose to forgo traditional education is growing seven times faster than the number of kids enrolling in... Read more
Most evangelicals are Calvinists. Some of you may be surprised by that so let me take a goodly share of it back. Yes, Calvinism formed the bedrock of much of the faith of early American Christians that influenced much of evangelicalism today. But … there were the Wesleys who were more Arminian, and the Second Awakening has a goodly share of Arminian theology at work in it (think Finney), and then there’s the revivalism of the 20th Century — and... Read more
Jewish Women and Marriage First, we look at adultery: a Jewish man could only commit adultery by sexual intercourse with a woman already married. Jesus differed with this general Jewish stance by arguing for strict monogamy (Luke 16:18; Matthew 5:32). The Hebrew Bible prescribes death for adultery (cf. Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:20-21); but Jewish traditions varied on this law’s implementation (cf. Susanna 44-45; 2 Enoch 71:6-7; Matthew 1:18-25). What then about the suspected adulteress, the Sotah? How to prove adultery? The... Read more
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Source: CHICAGO (RNS) On a recent Sunday morning, Jenny Yang stood beside a giant wooden cross and made a case for immigration reform to members of an evangelical church. “As Americans, we have a responsibility when the laws are not working for the common good to change them,” she intoned from the pulpit. The talk was part of a broader, cross-country effort to persuade evangelicals to back the bipartisan immigration bill that’s working its way through Congress. Yang, 33, is... Read more
Last Thursday I put up a post The Garden in Ancient Context looking at the discussion in John Walton’s background commentary on Genesis (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary). The first comment on this post made a point that comes up frequently in the discussion of the historicity of the Genesis account of origins (Gen 1-11). Not sure this is really all that surprising. There were many flood myths in the ancient world because there was an actual flood. Perhaps there... Read more
The Issue of Purity Because of the value placed upon virginity and upon purity in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Leviticus 12), Jewish halakhah (legal rulings) focuses on items not normally discussed openly in modern Christian contexts. In many cases, the items are considered private information today. But for ancient Judaism, these items were part and parcel of what obedience meant. It begins with virginity: if a woman is a virgin at marriage, indicated by blood from the rupture of the... Read more
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