A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
At the BAR Library — When Did Ancient Israel Begin? New hieroglyphic inscription may date Israel’s ethnogenesis 200 years earlier than you thought. By Hershel Shanks This is a very good article about a paper by scholars Manfred Görg, Peter van der Veen, and Christoffer Theis, based on their understanding of a pharaoh’s “name ring” on […]
Continue ReadingThis page contains Comments and Responses to the post in BAR immediately below. Geographically Puzzled The article on Sodom (“Where Is Sodom? The Case for Tall el-Hammam,” BAR 39:02) was well reasoned and provocative, but it left me geographically puzzled. It is true that as Abraham and Lot looked down from the area near Ai and Bethel […]
Continue ReadingBelow is an excellent post by Michael L Waddell at BSA on May 5. Intro: The creation story of Genesis 2 is widely held by scholars to be older than the separate creation story in Genesis 1. The Genesis 1 story, attributed to the “Priestly” author P, presents God in a way we’ve come to […]
Continue ReadingThe paragraph and table below is from BAS Library: Child Sacrifice: Returning God’s Gift, Barren women give birth to exceptional children by Susan Ackerman. Susan Ackerman is a retired professor of religion and women’s and gender studies at Dartmouth College. She specializes in women and the religion of ancient Israel. Six barren woman in the Bible receive […]
Continue ReadingSee at the BSA Library: Child Sacrifice at Carthage—Religious Rite or Population Control? Archaeological evidence provides basis for a new analysis by Lawrence E. Stager, Samuel Wolff Opening paragraph – “Tophet” is a Biblical word. It is the name of a place that was on the south side of ancient Jerusalem in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, where […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 5/15/2025. King Hezekiah of Judah, who reigned in the late 8th century BCE, is recognized for initiating significant religious reforms aimed at centralizing worship in Jerusalem. These reforms were both religious and political, seeking to consolidate religious practices and strengthen the kingdom’s unity. Biblical Accounts The Hebrew Bible portrays Hezekiah as a […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 5/13/2025. The message of the prophet Micah, as recorded in the Book of Micah in the Old Testament, can be summarized in three main themes: Would you like me to show how these themes develop across the chapters of Micah? Great! Here is how the themes of Micah develop across its seven […]
Continue ReadingFor a concise history and background, see the Britannica article here. All information below is from ChatGPT on May 11, 2025. Additional responses below the first prompt are: 1st prompt – When the Jewish Study Bible uses LORD in all caps what was the name used in the original Hebrew? ChatGPT said: When the Jewish […]
Continue ReadingThe prompt below stems from the article at BSA by Robin Faith-Walsh here. From Claude.ai on 5/5/25. Prompt: Provide a list of words in the time of Jesus that had meanings like “pneuma” as “spirit” or “ekklesia” as “voluntary association” or “church” but now theologians use them in very narrow meanings such as “gospel” now […]
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai, 4/28/2025. The Authorship of the Book of Micah: Critical Scholarly Perspectives The question of who wrote the book of Micah is considerably more complex than the traditional view that attributes the entire text to the 8th-century prophet Micah of Moresheth. Critical biblical scholarship has extensively examined this question, considering linguistic features, historical references, […]
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