A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
From ChatGPT – Q: List of monarchs from Jacob to Zedikiah The monarchs of the Kingdom of Judah from Rehoboam (son of Solomon) to Zedekiah (the last king before the Babylonian exile) are as follows. Since you’re asking from Jacob (Israel’s patriarch) to Zedekiah, note that Jacob’s name was changed to Israel and was the […]
Continue ReadingBart Ehrman’s post, Oral Traditions and the Dates of Our Gospels, October 23, 2024, provides extracts from the 8th edition of his textbook The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the New Testament (Oxford University Press, 2024), Below are extracts from the post that provides basic reasons for the traditional dates of when the Gospels were […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT, 10/24/2024 — Q: Does the Bible’s instructions to fear the Lord really mean respect the Lord? Yes, in many instances, the Bible’s instruction to “fear the Lord” is often understood as “reverence” or “respect” for God rather than fear in the sense of being afraid. The biblical use of the word “fear” comes […]
Continue ReadingExtracts from my Kindle copy of Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard Elliott Friedman. The following are examples of Solomon’s policy toward northern Israel from pages 44 and 45. Those policies lead to the split into Israel and Judah. Freidman explained the new leadership here. The Shiloh prophet Ahijah instigated the northern tribes’ secession, and he designated […]
Continue ReadingGenesis 28:1 — Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, “You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women. 2 Go at once to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father; and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty [Traditional rendering […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT: In the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, the phrase “God is love” is found in 1 John 4:8 and 1 John 4:16. Here’s what these verses say: These verses emphasize the nature of God as love and the importance of love in understanding and relating to God. From ChatGPT: The […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT – 10/19/2024 Q: What are the first-person verses in Deuteronomy? In the Book of Deuteronomy, the first-person verses are typically presented as Moses speaking directly to the Israelites. He recounts their journey, relays God’s commandments, and gives instructions for how they are to live in the Promised Land. Here are some examples of […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT 10/19/2024 with explanatory supplements by Ross Nichols taken for my transcript in DropBox from his lesson on Youtube titled Did Moses Write the Torah. See embed below. Q: What scriptures shows where Moses did not write the Pentateuch? Several pieces of evidence within the Pentateuch itself suggest that Moses may not have written […]
Continue ReadingIn a post on 10/16/2024, James Tabor shared a list of his top three NT scholars. Allison was the first one listed. Extracts from Wiki – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Allison Dale C. Allison Jr. (born November 25, 1955)[1] is a historian whose areas of expertise include the historical Jesus, the Gospel of Matthew, Second Temple Jewish literature, and the history of the interpretation and […]
Continue ReadingWhat Really Happened at Mount Sinai? Four biblical answers to one question by Baruch J. Schwartz at BAS *** This is a very extensive response to the question with scripture links to many statements, contradictions and other difficulties. The three following paragraphs are excerpts from his text. The Bible presents the lawgiving not as a single dramatic […]
Continue Reading