ABSTRACT A new war currently rages on the Western front. Unlike most wars, this battle is neither for booty and bounty nor for territory and terrain; instead, this is quite simply a fight for freedom—personal, individual, self-centered freedom. It’s a combat that threatens the very fabric of our society. The ideological castle under siege…
Jesus’ imagery of a blind person leading a blind person (Matthew 15:14) is so familiar to most of us that it hardly elicits more than a quiet yawn. Altering the characters as in the above title just may create enough of a jolt to kick-start the engine of Jesus’ intention. Of course, it also risks…
Genesis 47:29 offers one of the best examples of why knowledge of historical and cultural backgrounds helps readers of the Bible avoid (sometimes serious!) misunderstandings. I mean, imagine if you went to buy a car, and instead of asking for your credit information, the salesman asked you to put your hand under his thigh, well…
I recently read a blog (http://theocchronicles.com/2013/01/25/women-in-ministry/) that expressed the writer’s reservations about the place of women in ministry. Ironically, the writer was a woman. Questioning the legitimacy of women in leadership positions, she confesses: “But for now, in January of 2013, I am not ready to abandon biblical principles that are so clearly spelled out…
The behavioral aspect of “love-hate” relationships is undoubtedly in view in Genesis 37:3 where we read that “Israel (the converted Jacob) ‘loved’ Joseph more than all his sons.” This must not be taken to indicate Jacob’s emotional disconnection or disregard or, even worse, disdain for his “other” sons; the literary context and historical detail point…