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My SIL came from a Catholic background; I attended his old church twice, many, many years ago with his father. Unexciting, uninspiring, typical to western PA poverty. Filled with old women and grey retirees. Rob

The book looks interesting, and quite fairly priced! Have you ever done a DNA genealogical blood test to confirm your heritage? Cherokee tribal associations were quite diverse, mixing with many different races. My family heritage had a rather recent entrance into the "new world," some time in...

Adam was the federal head, the representative for all humanity. While Eve transgressed God’s law, she was not the covenant head. When she ate the forbidden fruit, nothing happened: only after Adam shared in the sin were their eye's opened (Gen. 3:6). If Adam remained obedient and did not eat of...

Our English translations frequently employ a stylistic form of honorific when they employ the practice of capitalizing divine pronouns, altering the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts in an attempt to clarify interpretation. It sometimes is helpful, other times it excludes a textual...

In a book titled, "The Bible Made Impossible," the author Christian Smith declares, "The 'biblicism' that pervades much of American evangelicalism is untenable and needs to be abandoned in favor of a better approach to Christian truth and authority." He does not identify a particular brand of...

The most fully developed chasm in the Torah is Noah's flood [link]. The central point being the phrase, ...but God remembered... (Genesis 8:1). But the whole of Scripture can be structured. A Earth without form - the abyss (Gen. 1:1) B...Creation (Gen. 1-3) C ..........Death for mankind (Gen...

When there is disagreement between what we observe in the world and what we read in Scripture, something is wrong. The conflict lies not between nature and Scripture—both are God-given revelation—but between our interpretations of them, since any perceived conflicts result from...

Would it matter? Yes, it would matter a lot! (1) It requires a ultra literal hermeneutical system to believe a 6k creation, so it affects how we approach Scripture. (2) If the earth were 6k old, then our basic understanding of physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy and biology would be proven...

God provides information on a "need to know" basis. The Scriptures are God's revelation to mankind, providing what we need to know for the purpose of our salvation. Satan's downfall is outside the purview of salvific revelation. Any answers to the question of Satan's fall are mere theory and...

I’d lie but I’m not very practiced at it. Some people are very good at it and quite convincing. There are quite a few instances in Scripture where deception is used against God’s enemies. God operates faithful to the faithful but is able to employ a deceptive spirit when dealing with the...

The whole text is a treasure...well worth the investment of less than $20 It will change the way you read the Scriptures, particularly the genealogies. There are some reasons why Western translators may have difficulties cross-culturally. Occasionally the phrase, "son of..." is used quite...

The end product of the translation of Scripture is a multi-generational process. The initial translation of Scripture in many languages is rather rough - often without the benefit of a full team of experts. A time passes and the deficiencies of the early translation come to light, other...

The metaphorical interpretation does not deny the existence of the literal meaning but it redirects and expands the meaning. Example: Jesus used this when he said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19) Everyone understood it literally (understanding it as the...

The New Testament Church: Communal unity (local and universal) ἐκ (ek), meaning “out,” and καλέω (kaleō), meaning “to call,” leaving the literal sense of the word to mean, “the called out ones.” It does not necessarily mean a gathering of "church people" or believers (e.g. Acts 19:32, 41...

Thanks. I enjoy Robert Alter's translation and commentary. He devotes quite a few pages in his preface to the word, nephesh. Many older translations often translate it as "soul." Alter emphasizes the importance of context when determining its meaning, using, "living being," "life," "throat" or...

This presentation provides a singular way to interpret Genesis 2:16-17, "...for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Does this only apply to human beings? How would other living beings integrate into this way of understanding death? How does separation of body and spirit...

Embalming and mummification carry a rich, biblical meaning? The practice is simply a ritual, designed to comfort those left behind. It will not aid me in any way towards life eternal. In general, Baptists abstain from ceremonial liturgy and ritual. The rich, biblical picture is supplied in...

One of my favorites! You picked that up quickly. The dog was named "Speed Racer" by my grandson. The two of us would be traveling quickly across the country to meet with them... I'd call it, "Travels with Speed" Rob

I've been mulling over writing a novel - a fictionalized travel story crossing the county, just me and a dog - what might have happened in life if events took a different turn. I've got a summary of what I want but have to interview a few people for some background material. Rob

Without a doubt, authors use language and storylines that attract a certain type of reader - it's part of the formula of writing a book. I don't watch many films or TV There are times when violence and "spice" fits the character of a story - we can even see it used in Scripture. Usually the...