Studies on the Fringe of Christianity
If you have ever attended a church Sunday school (or synagogue Hebrew school) as a child, you probably already know the story of David and Goliath. This tale is the chronicle of a young Hebrew shepherd boy, who killed a Philistine giant on the battlefield, some three thousand years ago. This Bible story is told …
In ancient cultures, most practitioners of supernatural skills were men. They were the religious officials of various pagan cults, who were considered ritual specialists in the magical arts. It wasn’t until later, during medieval times, that a witch was considered a person who performed harmful supernatural acts against others. And, the introduction of demonic forces …
While most Christians believe that the Ten Commandments are essential to their faith, some believe the other laws given in the Old Testament are irrelevant. They say that Christians are not bound by the Law of Moses. One person with this attitude raised the question, “What was the purpose of the law, if we no …
I received an email from one of my daughters the other day. She wrote, “Since riding a donkey when pregnant would have been so hard for Mary, do you think Jesus was born in the other Bethlehem, which is closer to Nazareth?” She was, of course, inquiring about the journey Joseph and Mary made just …
Over the years, I’ve studied, and attended lectures, about Jacob and the ‘Twelve Tribes of Israel’ living a good life in Egypt during the early days of their exile. This also includes studying about Moses and his rescue of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt hundreds of years later. The problem is that not much …
The Holy Bible is a book about God, and about the history of humankind and their redemption from sin. Within that context, there is much within the biblical record about the subject of marriage. Sexually, marriage was created and emphasized as a monogamous arrangement between male and female (Genesis 2:21-24), both physically and mentally (Matthew …
We talk about blood a lot. “We are related by blood.” “Blood is thicker than water.” “I gave you my blood, sweat, and tears.” “That makes my blood boil.” You can probably think of more such sayings. These statements are rather common and, as one author said, “It seems we humans are hard-wired to ‘know’ …
Lately, research shows that drawing a line between where being human ends and being a machine begins is becoming harder to establish. It seems that fictional characters like ‘Data’ (Day-ta) or the ‘Borg’, of Star Trek, may not be fictional in the future. A couple of years ago, I wrote an article about Artificial Intelligence …
Many Christian writers and some Christian preachers keep bringing up the idea that we are living in the ‘end times’ as described in the Bible. The evidence for this possibility is well established and many Christians believe what these writers and preachers are saying. But what, exactly, are the ‘end times’? If you don’t know …
Do you believe in devils and demons? Do you believe in invisible spirits who roam the earth entrapping people to do Satan’s will? Do you believe these entities are very real intelligent living beings, or do you believe they are they just metaphors used for people with evil personalities? Once someone asked me how, in …