Lee Harmon's Blog, page 15

Exodus 12:8-9, How To Eat The Passover Lamb

That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs.

//Yesterday, I mentioned an odd contradiction in the Law which stipulated how animals were to be sacrificed. Here’s another odd contradiction. How and where were the Jews supposed to eat the Passover lamb?

Answer: Not boiled but roasted, and in the privacy of your home....

Mark 10:37, Sitting on Jesus’ Left and Right

They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.

//In today’s verse, two of Jesus’ disciples, James and John, come to him and ask a favor. They realize that they are headed to Jerusalem, where Jesus as the anticipated Jewish messiah is supposed to announce his kingship. When Jesus sits on his throne as ruler, they want to sit one on his right, the other on his left.

They don’t understand what’s about to happen. They don’t un...

Exodus 20:24-25, Where To Offer Sacrifice

Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.

//Feel like giving a goat to God? Just make an altar. Anywhere you please. Pile up some rocks and knock yourself out. It’s right there in the law: God will come to w...

Book review: True Paradox: How Christianity Makes Sense Of Our Complex World

by David Skeel

★★★★

This one is different, but fun. When I think of apologetics, I generally think of logical arguments to prove the existence of God. Skeel is a lawyer, so he doesn’t think in straight lines. He dances around unexpected topics, letting us build a feeling about the truth of Christianity rather than bludgeoning us with hokey evidence.

It’s apologetics with a twist. Soft arguments in contrast to hard science or logic. I like it.

The two topics which most intrigued me were (1) the my...

My New Book: The River of Life

My latest book has been published by Energion Publications, and copies are on their way to me from the printer! Anyone who would like review copies should contact me or Henry Neufeld at Energion.

This book is less scholarly than my previous books, much more personal and much shorter. It is an easy read, helping readers to understand the focus and beliefs of liberal Christians. Here’s a sneak preview of the opening paragraphs:

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I am an agnostic Christian.

For the sake of full disclosure,...

John 21:11 Why 153 Fish?

Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.

//Most of you know this story, how the disciples, disheartened after the death of Jesus, decide to go fishing. They have no luck at all. But suddenly a mysterious stranger appears (it’s Jesus, of course) and tells them to cast out one more time. They do, and net 153 fish.

Numbers are significant in the Bible. So what does the number 153 signify? Are we really suppos...

John :42-44, The Earliest Christian Church, part IV of IV

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on my own initiative, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature...

John 8:28, The Earliest Christian Church, Part III of IV

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

//Yesterday, I promised to bring up some similarities I’ve noticed between Johannine Christians and the Ebionites, that early Jewish Christian sect that I believe stems from the first church in Jerusalem. Here are some that come to mind; if you can think of more, please let me know!

- John’s emphasis, in both the Gospel and Revelation, is Jerusalem. (Contrast this to the other three Gospels, where Jesus spends all o...

Galatian 2:9, The Earliest Christian Church, Part II of IV

James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me.

//According to Paul, the three “pillars” of the Jerusalem church were James (the brother of Jesus), Peter (known as Cephas), and John. James appears to have been the church leader at the time of Paul’s writing. The followers of these three “pillars” appear to have introduced distinct flavors of Jesus-worship, while still retaining their Jewishness. Ja...

Acts 4:32-35: The Earliest Christian Church, Part I of IV

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone w...