Nation of Bastards

A new book by a McGill University theologian certainly sounds immensely intriguing. Nation of Bastards by Douglas Farrow. A review of the book begins

In public affairs, certain things are more important than others. Amongst the most important are laws on marriage and laws on education. They are fundamental because they impact on the future and survival of society. That is why people concerned about the future of Western civilization should be grateful to Douglas Farrow, associate professor of Christian Thought at McGill University in Montreal. His Nation of Bastards is perhaps the most penetrating analysis of the effects that the legalization of so-called “same-sex marriage” will have on our social, political and cultural life.

Read the whole review. Fascinating.  With thanks to Doug Knight for mentioning it.

Still More Archaeological Mindlessness

World Net Daily (of course) reports that some guy claims that the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant is on Mount Nebo.

A new best-selling book on the hidden mysteries of the Jerusalem Temple Mount claims to have discovered the resting place of the lost Ark of the Covenant – the biblical refuge of the Ten Commandments handed down to Moses at Sinai. In “Temple at the Center of Time: Newton’s Bible Codex Deciphered and the Year 2012,” by David Flynn, a book that has skyrocketed up the best-seller charts before its official release later this month, says his studies of the Temple Mount strongly suggest the Ark will be found at Mount Nebo in Jordan.

Aggghhhhhhh…….. Are people really stupid enough to believe this nonsense? Because they sure buy a lot of books about it. And the aggghhhh continues

In “Temple at the Center of Time,” Flynn makes the case that the Temple Mount, the home of the Jewish temples, was not just a place of religious worship. It is also is a roadmap to future events – a kind of prophetic landmark whose significance is only now revealed through the development of satellite imagery.

A roadmap to future events…. that, my friends, is the stupidest nonsense I’ve ever heard. And I’ve heard a lot of nonsense. If you buy this guy’s book, you deserve the mental anguish it will cause you.  But alas, gentle reader, there’s more…

The book asserts it has “deciphered Isaac Newton’s greatest paradox: None other than ‘the unified field theory’ of Bible prophecy.”  Sir Isaac Newton was not only a great thinker in physics, the book explains, but had extensive knowledge of the Scriptures with a special interest in prophecy. Newton believed there was a hidden code, a type of time-encrypted language. He believed the key to deciphering this code was the Temple of Solomon. He wrote extensively on the length measurements of the Temple and suggested it intersected time and dimension, serving as a prophetic and supernatural structure.

Ok now I want to stab myself.  This kind of filth sells and good stuff that contains actual reliable intelligent exegesis languishes.  We’re losing the battle to the ignorant dolts, my academically inclined brethren.

Oh NO! The Bentley-ites are Coming to Knoxville!!!!

Ok, here’s the story. This chap commented on a recent post of mine about Todd Bentley, heretic extraordinaire. So I thought I’d check out his site- where I read that the ‘Abiding Glory’ people (associates of Todd Bentley and defenders of his behavior / ‘revival’ / doings at Lakeland) are holding one of their ‘outpourings’ (what hubris!) at Knoxville. This coming Friday and Saturday, August 22-23. Has Bentley-anity come to my back yard? And what the heck is ‘the raining’ presence of God?

Anywho, this Ryan Wyatt guy (a relative of Roy Wyatt, nutbag ‘archaeologist extraordinaire’?) wrote

REGARDING TODD BENTLEY
AND OUR UPCOMING BREAKTHROUGH KINGDOM
OUTPOURING CONFERENCE IN KNOXVILLE, TN

I am sure that many of you have heard the recent news reports about Todd and Shonnah Bentley and the fact that they are experiencing significant friction in their relationship and have separated. Many of the “naysayers” and even many in the Body of Christ will most likely take this opportunity to display an “I told you so” attitude and be severely critical of Todd Bentley. My prayer is that the church will pass this test and take this opportunity to handle this situation with maturity and Christ-likeness and sincerely intercede for the Bentley family and for Fresh Fire Ministries. Let’s not be like the ones that celebrated Jesus when he made a triumphant entry into Jerusalem and then days later said, “Crucify Him!”

Mr Wyatt ought to be told that the denunciation of heresy isn’t in any respect a call for Jesus’ death. And to imply that Bentley is Jesus-esque is profane. Indeed, it is pure evil.

Let’s hope that the good people of Knoxville have more sense and spiritual discernment than the people of Lakeland, Florida.

Salome, Oh Salome…

A recent essay in the Biblical Archaeology Review opines – Long-time Ruler of a Prosperous and Peaceful Judea Mentioned in Dead Sea Scrolls – by Kenneth Atkinson.

Everyone knows about Salome- ‘friend’ of John the Baptist.

But In antiquity there was a considerably more famous Salome, however, who was revered for centuries. She was so admired that generations of mothers, Herodias apparently among them, named their daughters Salome in her honor. This Salome was the only woman ever to govern Judea as its sole ruler. She is even mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls: the sole woman, and one of only 18 people named in the scrolls. She presided over a number of religious reforms that shaped the Judaism of Jesus’ day as well as our own. During a time of chaos, men chose her to lead their nation and fight their battles. Centuries later, the authors of the Talmud regarded her reign as a golden age. Yet this remarkable woman has been largely erased from history. Her name is Queen Salome Alexandra.

According to Atkinson, Salome Alexandra is mentioned in 4QpapHistorical Text C (4Q331 1 ii 7) and 4QHistorical Text D (4Q332 2 4).

I warn you, before you read the next sentence, have a seat.

Ok- it’s a great essay and very informative. I commend it to your attention, without mental reservation, hesitation, or equivocation.

Adultery Is More Than Just Genital Contact

Drew has a very fine explanation, and it is right on the mark, concerning the meaning of ‘adultery’ in the biblical text. Adultery is not just about genital contact but is the betrayal of marital fidelity. That betrayal can take place in the physical adulteration of marriage vows; but it can – and does – and this is Drew’s point – take place in the emotional adulteration of marital vows as well.

The very narrow, theologically misguided, exegetically uninformed belief of some that adultery requires genital to genital contact is off base, purely and simply, and the adherents of that point of view make it clear for all to see that they simply have no idea of what the Bible teaches on the subject.

China: Confiscating Bibles From American Christians

Chinese customs officials confiscated more than 300 Bibles on Sunday from four American Christians who arrived in a southwestern city with plans to distribute them, the group’s leader said. The Bibles were taken from the group’s checked luggage after they landed at the airport in the city of Kunming, said Pat Klein, head of Vision Beyond Borders. The group, based in Sheridan, Wyoming, distributes Bibles and Christian teaching materials around the world to “strengthen the persecuted church,” according to its Web site.

That’s the reality of life in China. Its pretty ‘Olympic face-mask’ is a cover for what life there remains for Christians and others who don’t share the ideology of Mao. No one fears a book like those who are unmasked by it.

The move comes as China hosts the Olympics in Beijing, where false media reports last year claimed Bibles would be banned from the games. The state-run China Daily reported last month that 10,000 bilingual copies of the Bible would be distributed in the Olympic Village, which houses athletes and media. Bibles are printed under the supervision of the Communist government. The officially atheistic country only allows them to be used in government-sanctioned churches and in some big hotels catering to foreigners.

I’m not so sure I’d be interested in a Bible redacted by a government hostile to it. It would be like reading The Hector Avalos version (though that might be better than the wretched ‘Living Bible’ or the ‘Today’s New International PerVersion’).

N.B.- Of course China isn’t the only country a tad hostile to Christianity.  Israel has its ‘no proselytizing’ law and Arab countries make it very difficult indeed to proclaim the Gospel.  It’s a good thing America has freedom of religion.  I’d hate to see what happened here if we had a government like any of those mentioned.

One Final, Withering, Absolutely Acutely Accurate De-Bentley-ization By Bailey

Scott’s written a fine summary of his various (and I would say much needed and greatly appreciated) attempts to disabuse people of their Bentley-anity (I would say inanity). Bentley really is a cancer on the body of Christ and the sooner it is excised with the sort of surgical precision that Scott has undertaken, the better for one and all; but most especially for those who are under his ’spell’. The blind really has been leading the blind and consequently, in the wake of Bentley’s diseased deception, there are a sad lot of bodies mouldering in the ditch.

Gabriel Barkay And Temple Denial

Gabriel Barkay answers questions in a Jerusalem Post piece today concerning ‘Temple Denial’.  For instance,

“This denial of the historical, spiritual and archeological connections of the Jews to the Temple Mount is something new,” he says. “There was always talk about the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem – called the ‘praise of Jerusalem’- in Arabic literature, in Islamic literature. This new idea of Temple denial is due to the Arabic fear of Jewish aspirations connected to the Temple Mount. It is part of something I call the ‘cultural intifada.’”  Barkay says the change took place in the 1990s: “In the Washington DC think tanks surrounding president Bill Clinton, it was understood that the Temple Mount was the crux of the problem of the Middle East conflict. These think tanks decided that if there could be ’split sovereignty’ on the Temple Mount, then split sovereignty could also be achieved over the entire land of Palestine. So they suggested that in a future agreement, the Temple Mount would be split horizontally. That is to say that whatever is above ground, the part that includes the shrines of the Muslims, would be under Palestinian sovereignty. Whatever is underground, which would include the remnants of the Temple of the Jews, would be under Israeli sovereignty.

Read the whole.  It goes on to talk about the salvage work Barkay has been involved in for a while now.  Via Joseph Lauer.

Sometimes A Dream Is All You Need

On the 17th of August, 1525, Zwingli published one of his earliest book length treatments on the subject of the eucharist, Subsidium sive coronis de eucharistia.

He had been struggling to put into words what it is he was attempting to communicate to his ‘tedious, contentious adversaries’ when, as he relates, he had a dream on the night of April 13 and immediately waking up he sprang out of bed, grabbed his Septuagint, and turned to Exodus 12:11 and the next day discussed exactly that passage during the Prophezei.  It was the opening of the door to understanding the sum and substance of the doctrine of the eucharist.

Sometimes a dream is all you need- and the problem solving which often attends subconcious mind-work.