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Opponents of Unusual Size
For the second installment of my Wednesday-night Bible study series “Monsters: A Biblical Bestiary,” I discussed the story of David and Goliath. Actually, what I discussed was textual criticism and how...
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The Sixth Septuagint Studies Soirée
Abram K-J has posted the next SSS at his fine blog. Go see!
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A Sign of the Times?
I wonder if they went around posting notices like this in the days of Noah…
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Notes on Jeremiah
Due to Mercer’s exciting NCAA tournament run (in which our team showed themselves to be the epitome of class in both victory and defeat), last week’s discussion of Jeremiah was (1) somewhat truncated...
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About That Noah Movie
Jonathan Storment, guest-blogging at Jesus Creed, raises an important question about the Noah movie that is opening this weekend: It turns out that Evangelicals have a bad habit of reviewing stuff that...
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Chozen: A Passover Parody
For those of you who aren’t sick to death of the music from Frozen—and its various covers and parodies—here’s one for Passover:
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The Prophet Balaam
My wife actually has a distant ancestor named Balaam (although he spelled it “Balum”). This ancient Gentile prophet is something of a paradox in the Hebrew Bible and even moreso in later Jewish...
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The Whirlwind Creation Museum
Somebody needs to build this. I would pay to see it. Welcome to the Whirlwind Creation Museum. Other so-called creation museums place their emphasis on a narrow, literalistic, modernist reading of the...
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Hoffman on Leviticus: Why We Study Sacrifices
Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman offers a very helpful reflection on Leviticus and its place in contemporary Judaism: Moses’ opening instruction provides a broader picture: “When you offer a sacrifice from...
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What Christmas in America Can Teach Us About Israelite Religion
This is a very nice post from Pete Enns, who is consistently insightful and entertaining. You would do well to read it. But I swear, the first thing that sprung to mind when I read it was, “Good Lord,...
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The Offering of Firstborn Sons
I truly appreciated this post by Eve Levavi Feinstein that leads the reader through the many possible interpretations of the commandment in Exodus 22 for Israelites to offer their firstborn sons to...
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On Not Screwing Up the Noah Story
Pete Enns’s musings about the ark museum in Kentucky have led him to propose three important road signs for navigating the story successfully. Since my REL 130 students will be grappling with this...
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Enns: On Reading the Old Testament
Pete Enns has delineated “5 Modern Insights about the Old Testament that Aren’t Going Anywhere.” They are as follows: The Old Testament is an ancient Near Eastern phenomenon “Myth” is an inescapable...
View ArticleAnd Now I Want to Try Muscovy Duck
Via Atlas Obscura: “Is This Duck Kosher? It’s Complicated“: THE BASICS OF JEWISH DIETARY law—the laws of kashrut—are fairly well-known: no pork, no shellfish, no milk and meat together. But there are...
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