Lee Harmon's Blog, page 51

Luke 4:6, Who Has Dominion Over The Earth?

And the devil said unto [Jesus], All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

//In this verse, Satan makes a bold claim: that he has dominion over all the nations, and has the power to grant that position to Jesus. However, Matthew claims just the opposite in his gospel:

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth –Matthew 28:18

So who is the big boss? Satan or Jesus?

It...

Book review: The Problem with Christ

by Christopher Gorton

★★★★★

Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with Jesus. What irks Gorton is the way we misuse the title Christ.

“Christ” is a transliteration, not a translation. That means it is a made-up word replacing the Greek word Christos, meant to sound the same rather than provide meaning. So, we’re left on our own to figure out what it means.

Unfortunately, we’ve guessed wrong, aided by horrible translations. We’ve turned Christ into a last name. It’s not a name at all, but a title; it...

John 20:2-5, The Race to the Tomb

So [Mary Magdelene] came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.

//All through John’s Gospel, the “disciple Jesus loved” and Peter seem to be in a bit of a co...

Luke 11:29, The Sign of the Prophet Jonah

As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. it asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.

//Do you know what the sign of Jonah is? Most Bible readers are familiar with this scripture, from the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The “sign of Jonah” is that Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale … like Jesus spent three days in the grave, right?

Well, you’re half right. Matthew would agree with you, but Luke would not. Luke’s e...

Book review: 31 Rays of Hope

by Hollie Marie

★★★★

Hollie’s little devotional gift book is simple, practical, and encouraging.

I seldom review devotionals, preferring edgy, thought-provoking Bible topics. Inspirational writings are not really a good fit for my agnostic bent. Hollie’s encouragement abounds with suggestions like “Replace the word ‘faith’ with the word ‘know’ in your thinking (do not say “I have faith that God will provide” but “I know God will provide”) and “Do not be swayed by non-believers or those of little...

Micah 6:7, Did God Command Child Sacrifice? Part II of II

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? –Micah 6:7

//Yesterday, I presented a few verses that seem to indicate that at one time, Israel sacrificed children to God. Indeed, child sacrifice seems to have been considered the highest form of sacrifice. In today’s verse, Micah, an 8th-century prophet, wonders if he should sacrifice his children to God.

In time...

Exodus 22:29-30, Did God Command Child Sacrifice? Part I of II

“Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats.You must give me the firstborn of your sons.Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day.”

//Did God really command that his followers sacrifice children to him? Some scholars think so. Or, I should qualify, some scholars believe the Bible says God told people to sacrifice their children.

Today’s verse seems straight-forward. Give offerings of grain...

Book review: I don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist

by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek

★★★★★

I enjoyed this one a lot.The authors’ argument for the existence of God can basically be condensed to two parts:

1. Logic dictates that we live in a theistic universe—we are created and watched over by an all-powerful being who lives outside of space and time.

2. The Bible serves as convincing evidence that this being is the God of Christianity.

I hardly agreed with all of the building blocks in the argument, yet I found this to be maybe the best apologet...

Luke 13:31, The Gentler Pharisees

The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.

//In today’s verse, a few Pharisees who seemed sympathetic to Jesus approach him and warn him to escape from Jerusalem while he can.

This sympathy should not surprise us; indeed, we often find Jesus in the homes of Pharisees. Why would Pharisees welcome Jesus into their homes, and why would Jesus ever cross theirthreshold?

While the gospels tend to lump all Pharisees into...

2 Kings 23:22, When Did Passover Begin?

Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed.

//Scholars argue about when certain religious feasts and rituals began among the Hebrews, and the Passover celebration is no exception. The Bible states that the first Passover was just before Israel escaped from Egypt, before there was ever a Hebrew presence in Palestine. But if this is so, the Passover holiday was long forgotten by the time of th...