Matthew 2:6 “Bethlehem…in no way least”

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Matthew 2:4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, [Herod] asked them where the Christ was to be born. 2:5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the prophet:
2:6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are in no way least among the rulers of Judah,
for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

1. Some think that Matthew has deliberately reversed the meaning of the Micah text. …

“The Lost World of Genesis 1”

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Old Testament scholar John Walton has written extensively on the early chapters of Genesis.  These writings include a long article on ‘Creation’ in the IVP Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch, a commentary on Genesis in the NIVAC series, a scholarly book entitled Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, and a more popular-level book carrying the title of this post.

In the last-mentioned work, Walton proposes a reading of Genesis 1 that takes account not only of the language it was written in, but also the culture. …

“The Genesis Flood”

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Pretty early on in my Christian life, I acquired two books about the relationship between science and the Bible.  One was Bernard Ramm’s A Christian View of Science and Scripture (1954) and the second was The Genesis Flood, by  John Whitcomb and Henry Morris (1961).  The latter was intended, in part at least, to be a response to the first.  Ramm had argued for an old earth creation and localised flood, whereas Whitcomb and Morris attempted to make a case for a young earth creation and a worldwide flood.…

Genesis 1 & 2 – Two creation accounts

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Why do the first two chapters of Genesis give two very different accounts of creation?

A sceptical approach is to say that they are contradictory, and therefore neither can be relied on as divinely inspired.

Among believers, an attempt is quite often made to fit the two together by making the account in chapter 2 part of the events of Day 6 as recorded in chapter 1.

Another approach is to regard the narrative in chapter 2 as introductory to the longer narrative about the Fall:

‘Many writers have sought to find a second creation story in Gn.

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Genesis 1 – The six days of creation

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As summarised here, Genesis 1 describes seven days of creation:

  • in the beginning – God started creation
  • the first day – light was created
  • the second day – the sky was created
  • the third day – dry land, seas, plants and trees were created
  • the fourth day – the Sun, Moon and stars were created
  • the fifth day – creatures that live in the sea and creatures that fly were created
  • the sixth day – animals that live on the land and finally humans, made in the image of God were created
  • by day seven – God finished his work of creation and rested, making the seventh day a special holy day.
…

If Genesis doesn’t teach science, what does it teach?

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Andy Karplus

In a panel discussion on the origins of life  Dr Andy Karplus (Professor of Biochemistry, Oregon State University) advocated a ‘theistic evolution’ position.

Such a position raises the question, ‘If you do not think that the first two chapters of Genesis teach science, what do they teach?’  Dr Karplus gave a helpful summary of the main doctrines taught in these chapters:-

  1. There is one all-powerful God, who is distinct from creation and created all things.
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Mt 28; Mk 16; Lk 24; Jn 20 – Do the resurrection accounts add up?

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[This is an update of a piece first posted in 2013]

The difficulties involved in reconciling the details of the resurrection narrative of the four Evangelists are well known.

Let us begin with the question of how many women went to the tomb.

Mt 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

Mk 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought aromatic spices so that they might go and anoint him.…

That’s not what I call preaching 5

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The UK press loved it.  ‘Hysteria!’  ‘Heresy!’  The Express, Daily Mail and others gushed:

‘Worshippers left “in tears” as Cambridge dean claims Jesus was transgender.’

What was it all about?

Michael Banner, Dean of Trinity College, Cambridge, had backed a ‘sermon’ which had been ‘preached’ at Evensong on November 20th, 2022, by research fellow Joshua Heath.

The full text of the sermon doesn’t appear to be widely available, but Joshua Heath evidently based his talk on a 1993 book entitled ‘Christs’, which includes some depictions of Jesus on the cross and observed that in some of these the wound in our Lord’s side ‘takes on a decidedly vaginal appearance’.…

Dealing with doubt

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Michael J, Kruger has some helpful advice for those dealing with (or helping others to deal with) doubt.

Here’s his advice, mainly in paraphrase form.

1. ‘Doubting is normal.’  It is a normal part of the Christian life.  The Scriptures are full of instances of doubt.  So is church history.  To doubt is not to reject your faith.  The Christian says, with the worried father in Mark 9:24: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”…

1 Corinthians 11 – was Paul quoting his opponents?

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It has long been recognised that Paul, in 1 Corinthians, sometimes quotes his opponents before giving his own response to their objections and protestations.

It is generally agreed that Paul has written an earlier letter to this church, and is now addressing issues they have raised in response to that letter.  He is, it is thought, voicing their questions and objections back to them in at least the following verses: 1 Cor 6:12, 13; 7:1; 8:1, 8:4; 10:23; and 15:12.…