Grace & Knowledge Blog

I have tended in the past to think about the book of Proverbs as a random collection of practical advice.  But as a book in the biblical canon, Proverbs also contributes to the overall story communicated in that canon.  I have posted an article on this topic at the Grace & Knowledge website.

Tags: grace and knowledge articles, proverbs

I have recently posted an article looking at two biblical motifs:  (1) People marveling at precocious children sent by God; (2) Servants of God treasuring and pondering over divine revelation.  The two motifs come together in the biblical account of Joseph in Gen 37, and in the birth and childhood of Jesus in Luke 2.

Tags: grace and knowledge articles

Moses' cousin Korah is infamous for rebelling against Moses and Aaron along with Dathan, Abiram, and a group of 250 Levites.  God dealt with the rebellion decisively.  The Levites were incinerated, while the group swallowed up Dathan and Abiram.  A midrash says that both happened to Korah, and he was in flames when he fell into the pit.  

However, Korah's sons were spared, and his descendants went on to serve God as musicians at the tabernacle and temple.  The psalms written by the Korahites reflect their family history, as I explain in an article posted recently in Issue 35.

Tags: grace and knowledge articles

Christian Old Testament scholar John Sailhamer has noted that in the Pentateuch, a lengthy narrative will be followed by a poetic passage that gives some presentation of the Gospel.  The poetic passage will be followed by a brief narrative epilogue.

The poetic passages are Gen 49, Exod 15, Num 23-24, and Deut 32-33.  The messianic implications of these passages are laid out in depth in a book by a student of Sailhamer, Kevin S. Chen.  I have posted an article today summarizing Chen's treatment of Gen 49 in this book, The Messianic Vision of the Pentateuch. 

Tags: grace and knowledge articles

In Genesis 37-50, Judah and Joseph emerge as leaders among the sons of Jacob.  Reuben, the oldest son, plays a minor role and seems to be portrayed as somone who is well-intenioned but ultmately ineffective.  Since we have all experienced failure in our lives, we can identify with Reuben.  I have posted an article on Reuben at the Grace & Knowledge website. 

Tags: grace and knowledge articles

True prophets can be hard to listen to but tell us things that we need to hear.  Take for example the words of two biblical prophets that compare certain groups of people unfavorably to Sodom.

On the other hand, false prophets often tell people what they would like to hear.  There seem to be plenty of these prophets around today.

Tags: current events, grace and knowledge articles

Here is today's vocabulary word:  hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia, which means fear of the number 666.  

Tags: words

I noticed that a local church is advertising a youth activity for tonight that features "exiting Bible stories." 

The announcement reminded me of the most famous of the "exiting" stories, the Exodus.  Of course, the Bible is full of Exodus stories---Abraham and Sarah being expelled from Egypt, Lot escaping Sodom, Jacob and his family leaving Laban.... The Exodus is a pretty big theme in the Bible.  So the storytellers will have a lot of exiting material to choose from.

Tags: grace and knowledge articles, humor

On a quiet afternoon in Oxford, I went roman around town.  While walking one can notice a lot more details than are visible from an arial view.  On South College Avenue I noticed a sign I hadn't seen before.  It read:  Raising Helvetica

Oxford is almost deserted right now, so very little "Helvetica" is being raised.  But the sign gave a reminder that the students will return eventually and Oxford will come back to life as a font of knowledge.

Tags: humor, oxford oh signs

During the CoVID lockdown, I have launched an additional blog.   It keeps track of the weekly teachings at Church of the Messiah, where we have been experimenting with a lectionary that goes through the Pentateuch, with related readings from the prophets, psalms, and New Testament, twice every seven years.    

Tags: church of the messiah

Today we stopped by the public library for a book sale.  There was not as much available this time as at there was at the bigger sale at the end of the summer.  I picked up three hardbacks and a paperback for $3.50. including 

• Simon Winchester's The Map That Changed the World ;
• a spiritual memoir;
• a book about a heist
• a collection of short pieces by Garrison Keillor

Tags: books, oxford library sale

Back in Dec 2013, I posted some comments on a subgenre that might be called "Christian time travel fiction".  At that point I had read 3 books in which someone travels back in time to first-century Palestine.  

Recently I read a fourth one, The Resurrection Wager by Christopher Coates.  In this short novel, a research institute in Boston develops time travel technology and decides to test it out by sending a team back to document the events surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  In the process, they find out firsthand the potential of time travel to alter history.  

I enjoyed the book, although the writing was pretty clumsy.  (I gave it 3 stars at Amazon.)

Tags: books

One of things I do at the Grace & Knowledge website is post reports on each of the annual Yamauchi Lectures at Miami University.  The series started in 2006.  Today I finally posted a report on NASA astronomer Jennifer Wiseman's 2019 lecture. 

The next lecture is coming up in early March.  The speaker will be Wheaton College archaeologist Daniel Master, who was one of the directors of a long-running dig at Ashkelon.  I am looking forward to this one, as usual.

Tags: grace and knowledge articles, lectures

This year the public library in Oxford held its used book sale a month later than usual.  But as usual, there were lots of good bargains with hardback books at a dollar apiece and paperbacks at 50 cents.  I spent $9 this year on five hardbacks and eight paperbacks, including

• a World War 2 spy story.
• a book on early Christian history.
• a book on the history of science.
• a book of witty paradoxical sayings.
• a novel by P.G. Wodehouse.
• a "theography" of Jesus.
• a memoir by an historian.
• a collection of Jewish folktales.

Tags: books, oxford library sale

I recently read a paper on the possible symbolism of the Gerasene exorcism, where Jesus sent a legion of demons into a herd of pigs.  There turn out to be interesting connections between the Gospel accounts of this event and the Day of Atonement ceremony from Lev 16 where the sins of Israel were symbolically placed on a goat, which was then released into the wilderness.  In both the exorcism and the ceremony, there's some symbolism of the judgment of evil supernatural powers.  I have posted a short article on the subject.  

Tags: grace and knowledge articles

One thing that I do in Grace & Knowledge is report on significant lectures given at Miami University.  This task can be a challenge for lectures that include lots of technical detail.  

For example, in 2007 Richard Hess of Denver Seminary gave an important lecture showing that the archaeological evidence we have of ancient Israel's religious beliefs and practices is consistent with what we read in the Bible's historical books.  There was so much detail in Hess's lecture that for years I wasn't able to put together a summary.  

Then in 2018, I discovered that Hess had given the same lecture at BYU in 2009, and that lecture was recorded and made available on You Tube.  With help from that recording, I have been able to finally post a summary of the lecture.  

Tags: grace and knowledge articles, lectures

Today I have posted an article on how biblical teaching on proper use of material resources reflects Jesus' saying, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt 6:21).  

Tags: grace and knowledge articles

On Wheel of Fortune on March 8, 2019, only two letters remained in one puzzle.  The category was "What are you doing?", and the letters were:  DOING _EADSTANDS and _ANDSTANDS.  The contestant controlling the board had trouble with the last word and guessed "bandstands". 

Later a puzzle in the category "Same Name" had the letters SESAME & _ALL STREET, and the contestant controlling the board guessed a "D". 

Tags: wheel of fortune

On March 23 the Center for Judaic-Christian Studies in Dayton will be sponsoring a series of lectures on Christology by Bible scholar Michael S. Heiser.  Dr Heiser will be explaining the biblical and historical roots of the high Christology of the first Christians and the New Testament.  This is one of the topics he covers in his book The Unseen Realm.   

To help set the stage for these lectures, I wrote an article for the Center's March 2019 Haverim Update giving a quick summary of the topic.  I have also posted it in Issue 34 at the Grace & Knowledge website.

Tags: books, grace and knowledge articles, lectures

On Jan 24, a Wheel of Fortune crossword had four words that can follow "corn".  With just one letter remaining, three of the words were "fritter", "oil", and "meal."  The fourth word was FLA_E, and the contestant controlling the board guessed "P". 

But there was life after flape.  That same contestant later went on to win a car and go to the Bonus Round.

Tags: wheel of fortune