Idols look like living beings, but, as the Psalms point out, they cannot do anything with the equipment they have. They cannot see and judge, cannot hear and act, cannot smell the soothing aroma of sacrifice, cannot stretch out a hand against Egypt, cannot walk alongside Israel through the . . . . Continue Reading »
Is an adulterous one-night stand the same action as a night of marital love with one’s wife? If we say Yes, what have we assumed? We have assumed that the determinative dimensions of actions are the physical actions of sex. To an outsider who didn’t know that one woman is a mistress and . . . . Continue Reading »
In the preface to his controversial Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985, Volume 1) , Martin Bernal describes how he moved from Chinese studies, through study of Indo-China to a study of Judaism and Hebrew and finally to . . . . Continue Reading »
“The Trinity is a mathematical absurdity in the context of a god limited in his operations to just the four dimensions of length, width, height, and time,” writes Hugh Ross ( The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Latest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God ). To avoid the . . . . Continue Reading »
Over the past century and a half a number of writers have written monographs that attempt to link the letters of Jesus to the seven hurches with the history and culture of each city. The supposed connections are not always persuasive, but some are. Sardis, for instance, though its fortress was . . . . Continue Reading »
In the letter to Sardis, Jesus charges that the church has a “name” of being alive but is dead. At first blush, “name” means merely reputation, but I suspect that Jesus has more in mind. The church is the people of Jesus, who is the “firstborn from the dead” . . . . Continue Reading »
Jesus warns that His coming will be like the coming of a “thief” at night (Matthew 24:43; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 4; Revelation 3:3). This specific image - a thief breaking in at night - comes in part from the law, Exodus 22 gives regulations about how to deal with a thief breaking . . . . Continue Reading »
“Although it does not accord with the general sentiments or views of the United States to intermeddle [sic] in the domestic contests of other countries, it cannot be unfair, in the prosecution of a just war, or the accomplishment of a reasonable peace, to turn to their advantage, the enmity . . . . Continue Reading »
When Capt. William Bainbridge’s ship, the George Washington , was seized by the Algerian leader Hussan Dey and forced to carry tribute to the Ottoman rulers in Istabul, his men decided to take their revenge. According to Michael Oren ( Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: . . . . Continue Reading »
“Intervention is not now, never was, and never will be a set policy of the United States.” Herbert Hoover’s claim was cleverly stated: Even dozens of interventions might be defended as ad hoc responses to particular situations rather than part of a “set policy.” Still, . . . . Continue Reading »
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