Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

Today, the Israeli Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of an ancient bulla (or seal inscription) related to Bethlehem. Measured at 1.5 cm, the seal which you can see in the image just below, contains the following lines: בשבעת Bishv'at [in the seventh] בת לחם Bat Lechem [Bethlehem] למלך [Lemel]ekh [for the king] Archaeologists, who found the seal while sifting soil at an ancient site in the City of David (just outside the walls of the second temple), believe that this bulla dates back to the first temple period and proves the existence of Bethlehem.

So, last night as we were working through the LXX text of Daniel 7, we came across an interesting term in verse 19, that is, the word κυκλόθεν. Of course, this adverb comes from the noun κύκλος, which means "circle." So, in Dan. 7.19, we read of an image of a beast stomping or trampling around in circles. In the Gospel of Mark, we get a different adverbial form (I'm not sure if the nounal form appears in the LXX or New Testament) in 3.34. There, were read: "καὶ περιβλεψάμενος τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν κύκλῳ καθημένους λέγει..." A literal reading is something like: "And he was looking around at those circle-sitting (or, sitting in a circle) around him and he said..." You may have already made the connection but it is this idea of "circling" (κύκλῳ) that originally contributed to the name & practices of the infamous Ku Klux Klan. However, the Klan members actually cannot be credited with creating the name. In fact, they took it from the colle...

I stumbled upon this excellent poem today and thought I'd share it; incredibly thought provoking! "Questions Of A Worker Reading History" Who built seven-gated Thebes? Books list the names of kings. Did kings haul the blocks and bricks? And Babylon, destroyed so many times Who built her up so many times? Where Are the houses where the construction-workers Of gold-gleaming Lima lived? Where did the masons go at nightfall When they finished mortaring the Wall of China? High Rome is full of victory arches. Who put the up? Whom did the Casesars triumph over? Did chronicled Byzantium build only palces for its inhabitants? In fabulous Atlantis the drowned bellowed in the night when the sea swallowed them up after their slaves. Young Alexander conquered India Just he? Caesar beat the Gauls. Didn't he at least have a cook with him? Philip of Spain wept when his Armada Went down. Did no one else? Frederick the Great won out in the Seven Years War. Who won besides? A victory on...

I've been engaged in a convo with my pal Jake regarding my previous post, "History and Theology Go Together Like..." Conversations with Jake are always fruitful, despite the fact that we disagree. Jake is certainly a minimalist when it comes to historical biblical events (though he seems to define this differently than me; as of now, I do not know how though). His minimalist view comes from his commitment to theological hermeneutics. However, like many, I feel that Jake has gone too far. Certainly, there are a number of issues at play here: epistemological, philosophical, theological, etc. What follows in this post is a brief explanation of what I feel to be a hermeneutic that is both historically and theologically sensitive and respectful. Four quotes are in order here (and by no means do I assert that I agree with "everything" each of these persons say by virtue of one quote from them). Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, here they are: 1. "Any stu...

The theological interpretation of Scripture, that is, theological hermeneutics, has been gaining much steam for some time now. Like the liberation hermeneutic that gained popularity and began to win the day when it stepped on to the scene, there are many parallels with those doing theological hermeneutics today. While I am all for the bridging the gap between Scripture and (systematic?) theology, I am not so sure that fully embracing this hermeneutic is the way to go. In my estimation, one of the places that many who operate out of this hermeneutic go, is down the dangerous road of being ahistorical (to some degree at least, though some do not go as far as others). It is becoming increasingly popular to chuck the historical events of the Bible (though, oddly, when it comes to the resurrection those embracing this approach employ phrases such as “it is true with the other parts of the story, like the birth narratives but not the resurrection). All I can say is: “Wow. Where’s the consist...