Category: Reference
A Conversation: What remains of scriptural authority…
Below is a conversation that began on 12/30/2025 in the Nerds Only Forum at BSA where the participants discussed the bible and how it can be read and used. What remains of scriptural authority after infallibility and univocality collapse OP – Schaun Wheeler – Faith without doubt is just pretext I grew up in and […]
Continue ReadingMetaphysical Ontology: What is it?
From Claude.ai Metaphysical ontology is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of being, existence, and reality at the most fundamental level. It asks questions like “What exists?” “What does it mean for something to exist?” and “What are the basic categories of things that make up reality?” Key areas that metaphysical ontology explores […]
Continue ReadingMiddle and Late Bronze Age Cultural Settlements: Great Map & Article
From BAR Mapping Troy’s Luwian Context In a paper published in the journal Nature Scientific Data, an international team from the Luwian Studies Foundation provided the most up-to-date map of Middle and Late Bronze Age (c. 2000–1200 BCE) Luwian settlements ever catalogued, which includes ancient Troy. The study, comprising 483 settlements, illuminates the cultural landscape around […]
Continue ReadingFaith — Then and Now
11/21/2025 – In the BSA General discussion forum, Bobby Lane began a conversation titled I’ve misunderstood faith, literally. Many interesting comments ensued, pointing out differences between the ancient Hebrew understanding of faith, the early Christian view, and the contemporary Protestant view. I asked ChatGPT and Claude.ai about differences and how they evolved using the same […]
Continue ReadingViolence Accepted in the Bibles
Psalms 137 (ASV) 8 O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed, Happy shall he be, that rewardeth theeAs thou hast served us.9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little onesAgainst the rock. Below from ChatGPT Below is a list of passages in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament that […]
Continue ReadingContext avoids Pretext and Proof-texting
From ChatGPT on 10/27/2025. “I hold as a core personal belief that one cannot ignore the context, structure, and history of scripture and still take scripture seriously — if it deserves to be understood, then it deserves to be understood on its own terms.” — Schaun Wheeler whose forum member byline at BSA is “Faith […]
Continue ReadingSatan’s Evolution from Tester to Cosmic Adversary
Below are three responses from ChatGPT in this very long post. Practical Summary – Copied from the end of the last prompt/response. Critical scholars see the evolution of Satan as a response to historical and theological pressures: Result: Satan evolves from God’s permitted tester → semi-independent cosmic adversary → ultimate rebel doomed to defeat, but […]
Continue ReadingLēstēs: robber, bandit, or revolutionary/insurrectionist
From ChatGPT. The Greek word lēstēs (λῃστής) — meaning robber, bandit, or revolutionary/insurrectionist — appears several times in the New Testament, especially in the Gospels. Here are the occurrences, with context and English translation (NRSV). Pronunciation: lay-STACE. Scroll to the bottom for info and links about Dr. James Tabor’s translation of the term λῃστής (lēstēs) as […]
Continue ReadingInsights
Extracts from the “Did Jesus see himself as the Messiah?” roundtable post by Michael Waddell at BSA. From a post here containing ChatGPT’s summary of the transcript of Paula Fredriksen’s Lecture: “Turning the Tables on the ‘Purification’ of the Temple” in NINT 2025. Jesus did not heal the man with a “skin disease” NRSVue [“leper” […]
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