Studies on the Fringe of Christianity
We hear some talk about how the current time may be the end of the age — that promised time when Jesus will return, as he prophesied. Through all the years, since Jesus’ walked on earth, each generation of Christians believed he would soon return, maybe even during their own lifetime. Obviously, they were all …
The question of Enoch’s and Elijah’s demise is still argued by scholars and lay people after all these thousands of years, since their biblically recorded disappearance. Enoch was the father of Methuselah and ancestor of Noah, and the author of the apocalyptic Book of Enoch. He vanished, literally, after only 365 years of life. Besides …
Recently, I received an email concerning Judas and it asked the question, “What was Judas thinking when he betrayed Jesus?” For someone with such a prominent role in Jesus’ ministry, you would think there would be much information about this person’s personal life reflected from the descriptions in the texts, but that is not the …
Part of the Apostles’ Creed of the Roman Catholic Church, in its latest translation of texts, states that Jesus “ . . . was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead. . . .” For about fifteen hundred years the Apostles’ Creed stated …
There have been more than just a handful of times when I received questions from women about that “monthly curse” of menstruation. Most questions revolved around the issues of being unclean or ‘dirty’, as pointed out in the Bible. For example, someone would ask, “How can I feel good about myself, if God tells me …
Throughout two thousand years of Christian history, and several hundred years longer in Jewish history, the idea of an apocalypse has been studied. This predicted cataclysm is a series of earth-wide events, preceding God’s destruction of the evil ruling powers impacting humanity. Although previously implied and even promised, these events are symbolically described in detail …
Much debate is heard within discussion groups and friendly conversations over coffee about the idea that if you are “once saved, you are always saved.” In other words, if someone becomes a Christian, you receive forgiveness of sins (saved/salvation), which is a free gift that restores your relationship with God, and you can never lose …
This article is going to be a little weird — like me, I guess. We will cover a bit of background concerning the Roman government during New Testament times, but the last half of this discourse, although related, is a personal reflection from early in my adult life. So, let’s get started. Jesus’ life story …
Someone would be hard-pressed to imagine something more troubling or macabre than the taboo of eating human flesh. Now, in the animal kingdom, cannibalism is fairly common and found in more than fifteen hundred species, but this activity is rare in humans, just maybe not as rare as you might expect. Once, during a study …
Unless you know what to look for, medicinal and recreational drug use in the Bible isn’t always evident, because they didn’t speak about drugs as we do today. They used plants and minerals for treatment and healing of ailments and pain, or to produce certain mental effects such as mood relaxers and hallucinogens. Since many …