A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
See Joel Baden’s NIHB 2026 lecture on Genesis 18:23-33 that is the passage where Abraham seems to haggle with God to determine exactly how many righteous people would have to be in Sodom before God would refrain from destroying the city. See the PDF in the Sodom and Gomorrah directory in dropbox of “Shall Not […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains a bio of Hendel and links to his many articles published at BAR where he serves on BAR’s Editorial Advisory Board. He is particularly helpful for historical-critical questions about the development of biblical traditions Ronald S. Hendel is a prominent American Hebrew Bible scholar, biblical philologist, and textual critic, best known for his […]
Continue ReadingSee the very good article from BAS When the Sons of God Cavorted with the Daughters of Men by Ronald S. Hendel, Summer 1987. The PDF is in his directory in Dropbox. Dr. Hendel speaks of much more than the title implies. He shows how the Hebrew relates to similar Canaanite stories as well as how later […]
Continue ReadingThe post contains Claude.ai’s summary of the BAS article titled “Red Sea or Reed Sea? How the mistake was made and what yam sûp really means” by Bernard F. Batto. A pdf of the article is in his directory in Dropbox. The article challenges the popular scholarly view that yam sûp — the body of […]
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai on 3/30/2026, based on the prompt: Provide a timeline of the evolution of Biblical Hebrew as a language and when writing began, up to when prose was being composed. Cite all sources. Claude first produced the second timeline in this post where there is more info about each period. Immediately below is a […]
Continue ReadingIn Joel Baden’s lecture in NIHB 2026, he makes the case that when one takes the J source without the E and P, then we find a compassionate God. He uses the story of Abraham negotiating with God to spare Sodom to show that Abraham is not negotiating and God is compassionate about the people […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains Claude.ai’s summary of my transcript (in Dropbox) of Richard Friedman’s lecture on BAR/BSA here. I find his views very reasonable of what originally happened and how it came to be the story we know. Here is a summary of Richard Friedman’s argument in approximately 1,000 words: Summary: “The Exodus Based on the […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains my end-of-class “sermon” delivered at the end of the Preaching & Teaching course by Rev. Dr. Rob Couch at Christ United Church. In it, I told about the history of Micah in Lachish and Moreshet. The Claim – Micah, a prophet from a town southwest of Jerusalem, shared what Jehovah does and […]
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 ReadingBelow is Claude.ai’s summary of my transcript of James Tabor’s YouTube talk here. His talk explained what the Abrahamic Faith is and his personal views. The transcript is in his directory in Dropbox. In “Restoring Abrahamic Faith Again For the First Time,” James Tabor argues that authentic Abrahamic faith has been lost or distorted by […]
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