Posted in Ethics, Hebrew Bible, tagged crucifixion, islam, moses, pharaoh, quran on August 30, 2008 | 2 Comments »
“Be sure I will cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will cause you all to die on the cross.”—Sura 7.124
The setting is a threat made by Pharaoh to his magicians, who, in this first quranic retelling of the Moses story, instantly confess their submission [al-islam] to the God of [...]
Posted in Book Reviews, tagged atheism, dawkins, dennett, evolution, new atheism, psychology on August 29, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
Daniel C. Dennett
Paperback, 448 pages
Penguin Group
February 2007 (reprint)
The apologetic tone of the book is clear from its title but Dennett goes out of his way to be gentle with believers, if for no other reason than to keep them reading. Though often speculative and inconclusive, Breaking the Spell [...]
Posted in Gospels, Hermeneutics, New Testament, tagged beatitudes, translation on August 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
What does it mean to say “Blessed are those who mourn”?¹ Did Jesus mean to reveal a deeper psychological truth (you’re happy, even if you don’t realize it)? Was he telling them how they should feel (be happy even in mourning)? I am persuaded that these sayings are best seen as performative rather than simply [...]
Posted in Hebrew Bible, Philosophy, tagged ehyeh asher ehyeh, I AM, ontology, yhwh on August 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”—Exodus 3.14 NRSV
Universally acknowledged as a curious if not enigmatic phrase, ehyeh asher ehyeh might be understood, broadly, in two different ways: a statement about God’s existence, or a statement [...]
Posted in Hebrew Bible, tagged archeology, exodus, mythology on August 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
It’s a fair assumption that of the two witnesses to early Israelite history, the Hebrew Bible and excavated artifacts, the latter should be the starting point for reconstructing Israel’s past since a text preserved by copying is, after all, significantly more fluid than artifacts preserved in the ground. Burnished, red-slip pithoi in Early Bronze II [...]
