Tag: interpretation
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“Jonah, For Once Would You Just Think Of The Cattle?”
Have you ever had something you could not have possibly cared less about, and then wound up eventually caring greatly about that exact thing? The God of the Bible, if the text is to be assumed as univocal, certainly seems to do this. He wipes all of humanity out in a flood, then promises not…
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Why Does ____ In the Bible Have To Be Literal?
Have you ever questioned why any particular piece of traditional Biblical history must be taken as literal? Don’t overthink this. Don’t think about who else believes that, or how it’s always been taught. It’s not that deep. The question is simply why does the story itself have to be literal? Perhaps a better way of…
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A Pharaoh(ly) Ridiculous Plague Narrative: The Godzilla Frog – Part 1
The more I study the Bible, the more humor I get from it. Perhaps not directly from the author, but more so from the idea of taking certain parts literally. There have been a few times I have actually laughed out loud. Studying the plague narrative, post-deconstruction, was enjoyably one of those times! Let’s jump…
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Biblical Giants. Real, Myth, or In-between?
Legends of giants have captivated people since the beginning of our ability to describe them. Legends exist in more than just the bible. Many cultures have stories of these inhumanly tall creatures. Since I was a child I was fascinated by the stories, albeit rather skeptical on their veracity. How would we not have any…
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Apologists: Dogma’s Retainment Specialists
You’ve probably heard the term apologist before. I don’t remember when I first heard it, but I thought it meant something along the lines of “A person who uses more in-depth scriptural interpretation to show how something in the bible is true, to convince non-believers of the veracity of the faith.” While that definition is…
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The Third Option
A few months ago I wrote a piece titled The Failed Prophecy and the False Choice. I ended it with the conclusion that we live in a world where we have more than just two choices when it comes to the bible. What I didn’t do was elaborate on that. To quickly sum up the…
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A Theory of God’s Omniscience
The first Men in Black remains one of my all time favorite movies. It’s probably in the top 20. As any successful cash generator before and after, it of course spawned sequels. The third movie, cleverly called “Men in Black 3” introduces a few characters. One is an Archanan named Griffin whose special ability is…
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Withholding the Truth
In 1986 NASA’s space shuttle program was in full swing. The launch of the Challenger was coming up next and people were excited to know a teacher would be going to space. There was a thrill of enthusiasm in the air. Behind the scenes, engineers from Thiokol, the company in charge of the rocket boosters…
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In search of truth, what are you willing to give up?
“It’s hard to hear God’s voice, when you’ve already decided what you want Him to say” As I delve deeper into theological history, and read more from various theologians and scholars, this phrase will often bounce back into my consciousness. How often do people approach “Bible study” with an idea of what they want to…
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Interpretation is for everyone
I used to be the plant engineer at a small company. One of my duties was running the maintenance department. There were anywhere from four to six people who reported to me. The main job of our maintenance department was to fix whatever was broken. Often some of the guys would be skittish about attempting…
Space For Doubt 