Category: Uncategorized
Elizabeth Struthers Malbon: The Poor Widow’s Offering
Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, In the Company of Jesus: Characters in Mark’s Gospel (WJK, 2000), 177-178. I would argue…that the overall temple context of the poor widow’s story adds to the impressive irony of the Markan passion narrative. Jesus’ summoning his disciples to observe the poor widow’s action and to consider… Continue Reading “Elizabeth Struthers Malbon: The Poor Widow’s Offering”
Bart D. Ehrman: Redaction Criticism
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 120-121. A “redactor” is someone who edits a text; “redaction criticism” is the study of how authors have created a literary work by modifying or editing their sources… Continue Reading “Bart D. Ehrman: Redaction Criticism”
Michael D. Coogan: The Importance of Covenant
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Literary and Historical Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (OUP, 2014), 118. The concept of covenant is central to the Bible. Its significance is indicated by its thematic importance in P, which is organized around three covenants,… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: The Importance of Covenant”
Invasion of the Bible Snatchers: Ray Comfort’s ‘Scientific Facts in the Bible’ – Hanging on Nothing
To see other posts in this series, please go to the series’ page. In the previous installment of “Invasion of the Bible Snatchers” you were introduced to Ray Comfort and his book Scientific Facts in the Bible. As we saw in that post, his first example… Continue Reading “Invasion of the Bible Snatchers: Ray Comfort’s ‘Scientific Facts in the Bible’ – Hanging on Nothing”
The Weekly Roundup – 10.19.18
The Weekly Roundup, ladies and gents! Bernard Lamborelle posted a response to @MiraScriptura’s “Bernard Lamborelle vs. Mirror Reading” entitled “Facing cognitive dissonance.” The humility exhibited in Lamborelle’s piece is exemplary and it is refreshing to see two people with opposing views respond to one… Continue Reading “The Weekly Roundup – 10.19.18”
Steven DiMattei: The Second Creation Account in Genesis
Steven DiMattei, Genesis 1 and the Creationism Debate: Being Honest to the Text, Its Author, and His Beliefs (Wipf & Stock, 2016), 42. From the opening verse of the second creation account, or if my reader prefers right at Genesis 2:4b, we notice stark differences… Continue Reading “Steven DiMattei: The Second Creation Account in Genesis”
Bart D. Ehrman: Jesus as the “Son of Man”
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 113. In the New Testament Gospels, Jesus used the term “son of man” in three different ways. On some occasions he uses it simply as a circumlocution… Continue Reading “Bart D. Ehrman: Jesus as the “Son of Man””
Michael D. Coogan: Embellishment in the Exodus Story
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Literary and Historical Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (OUP, 2014), 108. Given the importance of the Exodus, it is not surprising that the tendency to embellish what had originally occurred is evident among the accounts we… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: Embellishment in the Exodus Story”
Musings on Mark: A Closer Look at Mark 6:45-52, part 1
In the last post in the “Musings on Mark” series we did a brief overview the three different versions of the episode wherein Jesus walks on water that we found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John. We noted that there were a number… Continue Reading “Musings on Mark: A Closer Look at Mark 6:45-52, part 1”
Steven DiMattei: Creation ‘Ex Nihilo’ a Foreign Concept
Steven DiMattei, Genesis 1 and the Creationism Debate: Being Honest to the Text, Its Author, and His Beliefs (Wipf & Stock, 2016), 10-11. In general terms, then, the authors and cultures of these ancient Near Eastern creation myths, Genesis 1 included, did not conceive of… Continue Reading “Steven DiMattei: Creation ‘Ex Nihilo’ a Foreign Concept”
The Amateur Exegete 