Fear – Numbers, Part 2

The Lord spoke to Moses: “Send out men to investigate the land of Canaan…”[1]  To quote Dickens, “This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.”[2]  The Lord wasn’t surprised by what happened.  He knew it from the...

Romans, Part 51

Love must be without hypocrisy.[1]  A note in the NET explained that must be “is understood in the Greek text”  Ἡ ἀγάπη ἀνυπόκριτος.  I am inclined to see it more as a subject heading: The love unfeigned,[2] as Robert Young[3] translated it.  I think Paul’s thinking...

Torture, Part 4

Suspecting that my antipathy (and objections) to Jonathan Edwards’ contention that God is the Superlative Torturer are rooted in my personal history, I need to revisit the long name of God for perspective. The Long Name of God The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and...

Torture, Part 3

Then a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars.  She was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling (βασανιζομένη, a form of βασανίζω)[1] to give birth.[2]  A...

Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 5

I want to continue considering the eternal gospel the angel flying directly overhead “evangelized” (εὐαγγελίσαι, a form of εὐαγγελίζω)[1] in its context.  It is one of three messages by three different angels: one “evangelized,” another declared (λέγων, a form of...

My Reasons and My Reason, Part 2

I took my mother to see “Saving Mr. Banks” after Christmas.  We enjoyed it.  It was a well-done adult Disney movie.  (I wouldn’t recommend it for children.)  We’re both interested in the creative process so a movie about making a movie didn’t seem too masturbatory. ...