A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
From BAS here. OP – Adonai Tzevaoth by Avery Barron on 5/29/2026. I’m very curious about the recurring tendency to render this phrase as “Lord of Hosts” in the overwhelming majority of English translations. Robert Alter’s translation opts for “Lord of Armies,” which, despite the apparent academic consensus that this is the actual way to […]
Continue ReadingIn a very interesting post on 3/18/2026 at BSA titled “Paul as Jeremiah,” Michael Waddle pointed out where Paul said he was like various prophets. Below is Claude.ai’s summary of Michael’s post. A second response expands on Michael’s comments and other comparisons. Summary The author argues that Paul likely saw himself as a Jeremiah figure, while […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 2/18/2026. Modern biblical scholarship widely recognizes that the accounts of King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18–20, Isaiah 36–39, and 2 Chronicles 29–32 are closely related parallel narratives. Below is a structured explanation of the similarities, what scholars say, and the context in which those statements are made. Below that is a verse-by-verse […]
Continue ReadingExtract from BartEhrman.com here. A Heart-Rending Story and Stunning Condemnation: The Prophet Hosea December 7, 2025 Bart began with: One of my favorites is Hosea, which tells a heart-wrenching story and delivers an unusually powerful message. The following is an edited version of my discussion in my book The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction (Oxford […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 11/19/2025. In mainstream critical scholarship, the poetic prayer is understood to be the entire psalm in Jonah 2:2–9, with Jonah 2:1 and 2:10 treated as prose framing from the narrative. The prayer itself is widely regarded as a later insertion because its style, theology, and vocabulary match the Psalms rather than the […]
Continue ReadingSee Did God Write the Torah — and Does it Matter? For many Jews, the Torah’s authority does not derive from being a divine document. by Marc Zvi Brettler at MyJewishLearning.com. The article is in a Word doc in DropBox’s folder “Jewish Topics”. Claude.ai was asked to summarize the article and that summary is pasted […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains ChatGPT responses related to the approach of God’s kingdom. The responsesd followed a response thread contained in the post here. Here is a practical outline showing how the idea of the miraculous approach of God’s kingdom changed after 70 CE, when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed. This period is crucial because […]
Continue Reading10/9/2025 – This post contains multiple ChatGPT responses that have not been fully vetted. 1st Prompt – Who were the ancient historians who cited prophets, and who were the prophets who proclaimed the miraculous approach of God’s kingdom? 1st Response – Let’s take your question in two parts — (1) ancient historians who cited prophets, […]
Continue ReadingPost by Ross K. Nichols, 9/22/2025. Why Fast for Gedaliah? On the third day of the seventh biblical month, the Jewish people observe a day of fasting. The observance is known as the Fast of Gedaliah. Who was Gedaliah, and why is his name associated with a day of fasting down to this day? In […]
Continue ReadingBelow is ChatGPT’s summary of the good article at BAS “How Bad Was Jezebel?” by Janet Howe Gaines (Sept. 18, 2025) Her shorter article in 2010 is here. The article “How Bad Was Jezebel?” by Janet Howe Gaines (Sept. 18, 2025) re-examines the biblical portrait of Queen Jezebel and argues that her infamy owes more […]
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