Author: Skip Moen, Ph.D.

  • Get the Greek Out

    My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly.  Psalm 119:167  NASB My soul – It’s no surprise that the English translations of this verse use a word that is thoroughly Greek.  “Soul” came into English through Greek philosophy, and as such, represented that invisible, eternal element of human being that eventually left the corrupt material…

  • Platonic Religion

    I hope for Your salvation, Lord, and do Your commandments.  Psalm 119:166  NASB Hope – Plato’s view of religion sets the stage for the contrast we will explore.  Plato also believed in hope.  Well, sort of.  His view was that religion was like wishing things would be better, that is, hoping that your wishes would come true. …

  • The Eternal Optimist

    Those who love Your Law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble.  Psalm 119:165  NASB Nothing – Wouldn’t that be nice?  Wouldn’t you jump at the chance to have “great peace; to live a life where nothing ever caused you to trip up”?  Sounds like paradise, or maybe heaven.  But it certainly doesn’t sound…

  • The Call to Prayer

    Seven times a day I praise You because of Your righteous judgments.  Psalm 119:164  NASB Seven times a day – Travel nearly anywhere in the region once the home of the psalmist and you will hear the call of the minaret.  Five times a day the wailing of the muezzin emanates from those tall towers dotting…

  • Abomination

    I hate and loathe falsehood, but I love Your Law.  Psalm 119:163  NASB Loathe – As you will recall, we encountered the English translated word “loathe” in verse 158.  There we discovered that the Hebrew qûṭ meant “intense disgust, repulsion,” in other words, something that makes you sick to your stomach.  Now we have the same English word,…