The Seven Minute Reset

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.  Matthew 13:16 NASB Because they see – On  All Saints Day, November 1, 1755 at 9:40 in the morning the status of Portugal as a world power completely changed.  Before 9:40  Lisbon was the center of worldwide exploration and economic prosperity. …

Beyond Thinking

“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord,  Isaiah 1:18a  NKJV Reason – Just to be clear, the verse from Isaiah is not an invitation to enter into cognitive cooperation with God.  The Hebrew verb is yākaḥ, and a better translation might be “let us debate,” or “let us argue (as in a court of…

Heschel and Hari

“Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”  Genesis 12:13  NASB You are my sister – Justifying a paradigm usually means adjusting evidence to fit the assumptions.  Scriptural defense of the doctrine of the Trinity is an…

The Nature of a Commandment – Initial Thoughts

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.  Galatians 3:25 NASB Under – Paul’s view of the Law is probably the most controversial element of all his writings.  It certainly separated Christianity from Judaism and it contributed to replacement theology and anti-Judaism, perhaps even to pogroms.  When the Church interpreted Paul…

Divine Pity

Grant us grace, LORD, grant us grace. For we are sorely sated with scorn.  Psalm 123:3  Robert Alter Grant – How did you come to believe?  I’m not asking how you came into religion.  That happens mostly by drifting through cultural or family expectations.  No, I’m asking something else.  How did you realize that God…

Law vs. Law

So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.  Romans 7:12 NASB Law – Why is the Law holy?  Before you answer, consider the radical difference between the Greco-Roman view of Law and the Semitic biblical view of Law.  Christine Hays offers some insight: “Divine law can be minimally…

Non-Apologetics

“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18 NASB Reason – “ . . . the prophet is not a philosopher of logic, but a philosopher of…

A Leap of Faith

for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your…

The Return of Reason

“But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
 And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.”  Daniel 4:34  NASB Returned – Nebuchadnezzar…

The Asylum (2)

What say we say then?  Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase?  Romans 6:1  NASB Increase – “Obviously, that standpoint is congenial to the notion that sin does not affect or pollute the deepest being of a man.  It only impinges on the periphery of our living.  Sin does not break down…