Looking Back - Logos Bible Study

My attitude toward progress has passed from antagonism to boredom. I have long ceased to argue with people who prefer Thursday to Wednesday because it is Thursday. 
~G.K. Chesterton

In this forward-looking, progressive age, very little attention is paid to the past. Even among Christians, the attitude persists. In general, we prefer the New Testament to the Old. "Well, it's the old covenant. It's all been superseded. Sure, the Ten Commandments, but not all that other stuff. Just a lot of killing and kings and judgment."

Myself, I've always enjoyed the Old Testament, but sometimes, we all need a little help. Of course it isn't necessary to know historical context, geography, languages, culture, but those things flesh out the story and can give a whole new spin on well-known tales.

Did you know the Witch of Endor was a ventriloquist? Did you know Jonah was resurrected from the whale? Did you know that Jephthah didn't kill his daughter? Do you know who Jephthah was?

Is all that true? It could be. I'll bet it never came up in Sunday School. In dozens of podcasts, Dr. Bill Creasy examines the Bible from a unique perspective. As a marine he has knowledge about military maneuvers, he was stationed in Israel, he knows the languages, he knows the land, he knows the culture, he's got a sense of humor. Logos Bible Study really is the "most comprehensive, in-depth Bible study program on the planet." Dr. Creasy really knows how to make it all come to life - the New Testament as well. Are some of his more unusual claims right? I don't know. But he takes Paul's "test everything" seriously. God means us to use our imagination.

Check it out here. You can thank me later.



Longish

The Bible - Episode 4 Review

Part 3

Those of you who read my post last week will know that I have high expectations for Jesus. Of course, it’s not fair to give The Bible’s producers a break because of the intense levels of scrutiny—they knew they had to get Jesus just right, if they got anything right. So most of my criticism is focused on Diogo Morgado’s portrayal of the Son of Man. To be fair, nobody will ever be able to play Jesus correctly (whether they should even try is another subject), but regardless, there are some things one should remember if you want to do things by the Book:

1. Jesus was fully man – this means that, even if there were times that he was otherworldly, there were other moments that he was just an ordinary guy. Ordinary does not mean “sinner”, ordinary means “has a sense of humor” or rather: “doesn’t treat himself—and everything—with deadly seriousness.”
2. Jesus was fully God – this means that, despite his ordinariness, he had a few raging-holy-God-of-wrath-and-judgment moments. Usually he used this rage against the self-righteous, and his deep, reckless love, for the poor.
3. Jesus was not, in fact, an enlightened hippie – he was from a Podunk country town (almost certainly with an accent.)
4. We have no reliable information that Jesus was drop-dead gorgeous or had cute hair or a perfect nose. It’s rather possible he looked, y’know, like someone from Fiddler on the Roof, and ordinary, albeit Jewish-looking ordinary guy.