Lee Harmon's Blog, page 57
June 7, 2013
Deuteronomy 32:8, The Angels of the Nations
When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
//I wrote about this verse a couple months ago, but must not have gone into enough detail for some. So bear with me; here we go again, from a different angle, because this is one of the most interesting verses in the Bible to me.
Upon first glance, it seems to say that God apportioned an appropriate section of land to...
June 6, 2013
Book review: God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible
by Adam Nicolson
★★★★★
Here’s an odd book. It suffers from a little deficiency, through no fault of its own: the story it has to tell (how the King James Bible came into being) is simply not very interesting. Most of the contributors to the King James Bible were obscure, and the historical setting is equally dull. It’s wrought with typical corruption of court, power squabbles, and serious disagreements over doctrine. What else is new throughout the 1500 years since the Bible’s books were writte...
June 5, 2013
2 Kings 20:13, Hezekiah’s Death-Bed Blunder
Hezekiah received the messengers and showed them all that was in his storehouses–the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine oil–his armory and everything found among his treasures.
//Once upon a time, king Hezekiah fell sick, and was told by the prophet Isaiah that he would not recover. Word of Hezekiah’s terminal illness got around, and one day the prince of Babylon sent an envoy bearing a gift to the king’s palace.
In the mean time, Hezekiah prayed to God and God said he would extend Hezek...
June 4, 2013
Acts 17:22-23, Worshipping an Unknown God
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
//Have you ever given this verse much thought? Apparently, the Athenians sensed there was more to the divine than what they currently recognized, for they had set up...
June 3, 2013
Book review: Our Chosen Faith, An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism
by John A. Buehrens and F. Forrester Church
★★★★
I’ve enjoyed attending a Unitarian Universalist church about every other Sunday for a while, and thought I should know a little more about it, so I picked up this book.
That’s a lie. I have no idea where the book came from, whether it was a gift or a request for review or a purchase I forgot I had made. It just appeared on my bookshelf, without getting logged in my review queue. I love mysteries, so I read it.
U.U. is a merger of two denominations—...
June 2, 2013
Spiritual Retreats Around The World
by Virginia Cunningham
Sometimes, the trappings of modern life do not seem conducive to spiritual practice. With our many responsibilities and distractions from the divine, it can be necessary to take time out to reconnect with all that we call holy. While there are ways to find the space for contemplation and serenity in everyday life, we know we need more than that at times.
Here are some of the most accommodating places in the world to realign our higher selves:
Blesse...
June 1, 2013
Ezekiel 26:1-4, A Failed Prophecy
In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:”Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,’therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves.They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble...
May 31, 2013
John 15:27, John, the Eyewitness
And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
//In today’s verse, Jesus lays out the terms for one who is a legitimate witness to Jesus’ ministry. It must be someone who has been with Jesus “from the beginning.” John’s Gospel differs from the other three in many ways, but a person could argue that the most important difference is that the author repeatedly insists that he is an eyewitness to the events he describes.
For whatever reason, this author repeatedly mentions...
May 30, 2013
Book review: Everything On The Line
by Bob Mitchell
★★★★★
God and Satan are enjoying a customary lunch together when they decide to settle it all. The whole shebang. Which is more powerful: good or evil? This is no mere side bet, like whether or not a fellow named Job is a good guy. Satan has had enough of being banished from heaven, and this time it’s for all the marbles.
They decide to settle the issue on the tennis court, so each backs a champion. God picks Ugo, a graceful, deaf Italian while Satan likes Jack, a relentless, win...
May 29, 2013
2 Kings 16:3, the Sign of Ahaz, part II of II
[Ahaz]walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son inthe fire, following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
//Yesterday, I mentioned a sign performed by Jesus in view of the Jews, at the pool of Bethesda, though no such sign was requested of him. I mentioned how Isaiah also once provided an unwanted sign to King Ahaz, who was visiting Jerusalem to inspect the pool of Bethesda. Isaiah prophesied that a young maiden nearby w...
