A Gray-Beard's Thoughts
A Gray-Beard's Thoughts
Thoughts on Biblical things
Western Christianity often provides us with a mental image of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as an unwed pregnant teenager. This clearly has roots in modern Christians not understanding the Hebrew marriage practices of the time. Such a misunderstanding may…
What is faith?Where does faith come from?Can I increase “my faith”?Is “my” faith “enough”?Will “my” faith ever be as big as a mustard seed? Luke 17: 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 The Lord said,…
Have you ever warmed yourself outdoors on a chilly morning by a fire? Ever looked into the burning embers and have a remembrance of a similar time rise to the surface, bringing with it the feelings of that past experience…
Okay, I did a little dressing up of a Bible Study I led back in Oct. 2015. The result is a bit rambling, but that is how my brain works: The pondering sometimes triggers a trip down a rabbit trail…
Do you see irony in the stories around you? Do you sometimes feel uncomfortable because you find humor within the tragic things around us? Does a good pun make you smile inside? Does the outrageous get your attention, sometimes no…
Galatians 5:12 I wish that those who disturb you would cut themselves off. World English Bible That is nice and polite in the English translation. However, the Greek (apokoptó) literally is a phrase in English = I emasculate, castrate, mutilate…
OK, a second installment of the nuances of cultures and languages of Biblical times: More pealing back the onion layers. From John 11, the story about Lazarus and his sisters, Martha, and Mary: We blame God for everything, and Jesus…
I thought I’d start off this blog with an example of what led me to start researching into the cultures and languages of Biblical times. First one has to consider “What is the value?” for doing such a thing. My…
We live in a truly amazing age: the resources available on just the three sites listed below far exceed anything our ancestors could have dreamed about, and they are thousands of times easier to navigate than a grand library of…
I have found it fruitful to use multiple Bible English versions. However, on this site, I will primarily, as I do in my Bible Studies, quote an edition called the World English Bible (WEB). It is a reasonable translation in…