Chrisnu Reads the Bible

[D_Davis]

Five days later, and I haven't received a response. Not a surprise. Inerrancy is HUGE among evangelical and Reformed Protestant Christians. It is a fairly new phenomenon, though, which mostly arose as a response to theological liberalism.

Yep. Inerrancy Doctrine is a relatively modern concept, one that stemmed from the early Protestant movement; I'd bet that you'd be hard pressed to find a serious, scholarly theologian who believes that the Bible is the infallible, literal word of God, as opposed to being a collection of documents conveying a certain group of people's perception of the divine along with other works of divine fiction and ancient history. You sure will find lots of church goers who believe it because their pastor told them, though.

[D_Davis]

In Judges 1:10, the capture of Hebron is attributed to Judah. In Judges 1:20, the capture of Hebron is attributed to Caleb. In Joshua 10:36-37, and 14:6-14, the capture of Hebron is attributed to Joshua. Which of these is correct?

It doesn't matter. Remember, to the evangelicals all that matters is that you're wrong for questioning the "word of God."

[chrisnu]

I've been taking notes on these as I've been reading along, and am starting to post videos on how different prophecies in the Old Testament have been used in the New. Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2, Hosea 11:1, Jeremiah 31:15, "He Will Be Called a Nazorean", Isaiah 40:3-5, and Isaiah 9:1-7 are done. I'm eventually going to get through all the prophecies in the gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the epistle to the Hebrews. I also put together some thoughts on Jesus' temptation by Satan, and the "greatest commandment" given by Jesus.

I don't believe I've mentioned it yet, but Yale University has put entire courses of Introduction to New Testament History and Literature and Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) on-line. I've been going through the New Testament course, and Dale B. Martin is very insightful. He's confirmed some things I've seen in my own observations, and well as plenty of new things, particularly about the authorship and intent of the Book of Daniel in his lecture on Judaism in the first century.

[chrisnu]

More prophecy discussed: Isaiah 53 (Part I), Isaiah 53 (Part II)

Also:

The 1 Samuel Timeline Makes No Sense

Prophetic Frenzy! Now with Copious Male Nudity!

[chrisnu]

Sometimes, the bible has its uses. If I lived in Arizona, I'd put up a sign everywhere with this verse:

I didn't want to beat a dead horse in the News thread, since I have my own thread on this. I'll hop on the bandwagon and quote these. Emphasis mine:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

I love the very creative ways to make this say something it doesn't. It becomes really bleeding obvious further in the same chapter:

So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

But, but...

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

Lalalalala! No contradiction here!

[chrisnu]

I'm glad that Archbishop Lazar got to put this video back up. He mentioned the Human Rights Watch needed to talk to him about it. I guess it's been cleared.

[youtube]t_NNU7bBGgc[/youtube]

[chrisnu]

Some more prophecy: Isaiah 61:1-2, Malachi 3:1

I also found this pretty interesting:
Yahweh, El and Baal - Crossing the Streams

[Sycophant]

Chrisnu, I wanna watch these one day. I always try when I'm at work or some other place that's kinda noisy, and your recordings are always too quiet to hear without straining myself. But I will watch some or all of these at some point.

Related:

34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Awwwww, yeah.

[chrisnu]

Too quiet, really? Hmm. I suppose I do test these videos primarily on a single sound system. Perhaps mine is quite loud.

Awwwww, yeah.

I hate squashing people's fantasies, but:

There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.

You're still free to think that, though.

[Sycophant]

True story! I was once taken out of a Christian private school by my mother because they stopped using the KJV as their primary Bible.

It may be a KJV-exclusive accidental double entendre, but I'm still enjoying it.

[chrisnu]

Here's the latest stuff:

Urim, Thummim and the Ephod: Divination and Cleromancy in Ancient Israel

and my entry in the Educational round of coughlan666's Pwnage Olympics:

You Fought the Law, and the Law Won

[chrisnu]

More Old Testament prophecies covered: Psalm 2:7, Isaiah 6:9-10, Psalm 78:2, Isaiah 29:13

Also, as a bonus: My Christian Stuff

[chrisnu]

The latest stuff:

My Christian Music (Part 1)

My Christian Music (Part II)

The Molten Sea or: Yam Has Been Constrained

I know some folks who have their pet conspiracy theories, and now I have one. It would take quite a while to piece together the evidence, but I believe it's there: David overthrew Saul in a coup, and killed his entire family; the last three chapters of the book of Judges, and the books of 1-2 Samuel are pro-David propaganda.


Also, throughout the books of Samuel and Kings, there have been theophoric names which contain the name of the deity the people worshiped. Elijah, Obadiah, and Jonathan are some examples of Yahwistic names. Jerubbaal, Gideon's original name, and Ethbaal, the name of the father of Jezebel (changed from Jezebul, a Baal epithet) are Baalistic names. However, the names Ishbosheth (Saul's son) and Mephibosheth (Jonathan's son) in the books of Samuel are Eshbaal and Meribbaal in the books of Chronicles. Either the editors of the books of Samuel deliberately changed the theophoric names because of what they indicate: Baal worship in the royal court, or they didn't care about those implications, and simply wanted to be as polemically against Saul as possible.

[chrisnu]

Hey, I figured I could use the YouTube tag in this thread as well.

[youtube]qeniPUEwqTU[/youtube]

[youtube]SaqwO93btMQ[/youtube]

[chrisnu]

More prophecies covered: Isaiah 56:7, Jeremiah 7:11, Psalm 8, Psalm 118:22-23, Psalm 110

Also:

[youtube]l_DeDyYoSak[/youtube]
A Literal Interpretation of Genesis 1 Cosmology

[youtube]6KogGwlAzEU[/youtube]
A Word of Advice When Reading the Bible: Think For Yourself!

[chrisnu]

[youtube]QCpX_XMDf30[/youtube]
Jesus Teaches on the Resurrection and: The Revealing of the Divine Name

[chrisnu]

[youtube]wAQZjEerel4[/youtube]
OT Prophecy in the NT: Psalm 128:26, Psalm 148:1

[youtube]z4ZDcdSukbc[/youtube]
Jesus: Lord of the Sabbath?

[youtube]rdioMLvwgGc[/youtube]
To ChristoferL Re: Homosexuality and Divorce (Part I)

[youtube]SEHykM19kT4[/youtube]
To ChristoferL Re: Homosexuality and Divorce (Part II)

[chrisnu]

[youtube]ZK438unGnP4[/youtube]
Biblical Inerrantists Who Think Paul Was Wrong

[chrisnu]

[youtube]d2SzjLrwq8Q[/youtube]
When and With Whom Was Israel Betrothed? (Part I)

[youtube]RiRvAxEYP9A[/youtube]
When and With Whom Was Israel Betrothed? (Part II)

[youtube]lDG4S_lG7DQ[/youtube]
OT Prophecy in the NT: Psalm 69:9

[chrisnu]

[youtube]hkJUVCG_HOM[/youtube]
OT Prophecy in the NT: Isaiah 54:13

[youtube]IyuiF03Ntto[/youtube]
OT Prophecy in the NT: "Rivers of Living Water"

[youtube]evyFwZ-9JMw[/youtube]
The "El" of Ugarit and the Hebrew Bible (Part I)

[youtube]RERg0AyHM7o[/youtube]
The "El" of Ugarit and the Hebrew Bible (Part II)

[D_Davis]

While I've been meaning to for some time, I will soon be starting an in depth study of Daniel and Job. Looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you.

[chrisnu]

While I've been meaning to for some time, I will soon be starting an in depth study of Daniel and Job. Looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you.

Sooner than later I will be getting to Job, so I'll definitely be interested in your thoughts. It seems like it contains some very old ideas, and also contains some important information about ancient Hebrew cosmology.

Daniel is definitely an interesting book. Quite clever. After you've read the book, you may be interested in the following lecture from the New Testament course from Yale which I watched a short while ago:

http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studie...lecture04.html

[D_Davis]

Last year I bought a book on Job written by Carl Jung. I haven't read it, yet, but plan to when I get to this study later this year. I'm approaching Job as a work of divine fiction, which I believe it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Answer_to_Job

[chrisnu]

[youtube]dK1-MfbVGLk[/youtube]
The "El" of Ugarit and the Hebrew Bible (Part III)

[youtube]8uE0rLo_Sjk[/youtube]
Boiling with Fire

[youtube]JJrnAotP6v8[/youtube]
The Chronicler's Piety and Need to Know

[chrisnu]

[youtube]lvSYn_6ThRg[/youtube]
OT Prophecy in the NT: Psalm 82:6

What a horrid book this was. I just needed to fly off the handle about this one.

[youtube]htryRCX33Bn5w[/youtube]
Esther Rant (Part I)

[youtube]8lrTp-oyp0w[/youtube]
Esther Rant (Part II)