I just returned from a 13 day stay at Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) in Alexandria, VA. I was there from Sunday, November 3, 2019 to Saturday, November 16, 2019. I was invited to spend a few weeks there during my sabbatical from UNC Charlotte by the Dean and President, the Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D. It was an incredible experience. I learned a lot over these two weeks including things I didnāt even expect. I anticipate writing a few posts reflecting on what I learned. For this one, I want to include some pictures and an overall reflection. Iāll dig deeper later.Ā
Continue reading “My time at Virginia Theological Seminary”What do I believe – 2 years later? part 4
This is part 4 of my reflections on what I believe. As explained in part 1 (found here), I wrote a blog post over two years ago titled “What do I believe?” I plan to look at that original post after Iāve finished this series. I have no idea how many posts Iāll write this round. My first post focused on my struggles with a bodily resurrection. The second focused on the Holy Spirit. The third focused on the Bible. For this post, I will focus on the other āworldā I navigate: science.Ā
Continue reading “What do I believe – 2 years later? part 4”What do I believe – 2 years later? part 3
This is part 3 of my reflections on what I believe. As explained in part 1 (found here), I wrote a blog post over two years ago titled “What do I believe?” I plan to look at that original post after Iāve finished this series. I have no idea how many posts Iāll write this round. My first post focused on my struggles with a bodily resurrection. The second focused on the Holy Spirit. For this post, I want to focus on a different topic: the Bible.Ā
Continue reading “What do I believe – 2 years later? part 3”What do I believe – 2 years later? part 2
This is part 2 of my reflections on what I believe. As explained in part 1 (found here), I wrote a blog post almost two years ago titled “What do I believe?” I plan to look at that original post after Iāve finished this series. I have no idea how many posts Iāll write this round. My first post focused on my struggles with a bodily resurrection. For this post, I want to focus on a different topic: the Holy Spirit.
Continue reading “What do I believe – 2 years later? part 2”What do I believe – 2 years later? part 1
That’s kind of a weird title. Two years later from what? I’ve been going through my reflections the past few days to see where I need to create new tags to help me write my book. I noticed that almost two years ago I wrote a blog post titled “What do I believe?” Full disclosure, I’ve not read it in two years. I thought it would be interesting to first reflect on what I believe now and then compare the two posts to see if anything changed. I anticipate writing multiple posts on this topic.
Continue reading “What do I believe – 2 years later? part 1”Matthew 27-28
Matthew 27
This chapter starts with the chief priests and elders deciding that Jesus should be put to death and sent him off to Pilate. Judas hears of this, tries to return the silver, explaining that he betrayed an innocent man, and hung himself.
Jesus is questioned by Pilate. The only response he gives is when Pilate asks him if he is King of the Jews and Jesus replies āThatās what you say.ā Pilate clearly wanted to release Jesus, knowing that Jesus was in front of him simply because of jealousy by the priests. Apparently it was the custom during this time of year to release a prisoner to the crowd, whomever they chose. He told the crowd to pick between Jesus Barabbas or Jesus himself. The elders and priests convince the crowd to ask for Barabbas and demand that Jesus be crucified. Clearly Pilate doesnāt want to do this, but this happens according to the text (27:24-26; CEB Study Bible, p. 60 NT).
Continue reading “Matthew 27-28”Isaiah 22-24; Matthew 17-18
Isaiah 22: Warnings to Jerusalem and its leaders. The warnings stem from how the leaders behaved during wartime. They apparently stopped focusing on God and spent more time focusing on their defenses. At least this is according to the notes in the CEB study bible (p. 1124 OT).
Isaiah 19-21; Matthew 15-16
Isaiah 19: Threats concerning Egypt. So God strikes down Egypt because of what the people there are doing. We then see at the end of this chapter that the people turn (back?) to God and worship him again. As in, if you hold to a literal interpretation of the Bible, then you believe that the Egyptians followed God out of fear.
Again, strange way to view things. Doesnāt make any sense to me. It seems limiting.
9/5 Reading (Song of Songs 4-6; Matthew 3-4)
Song of Songs 4: This chapter is of the man celebrating the womanās beauty. First half is pretty descriptive, focusing on her eyes, teeth, lips, cheeks, neck, and breasts. The second half continues with the man expressing his love for her as well as celebrating her beauty. At one point he refers to her as āmy sister, my bride.ā Now, according to the notes, the use of the word sister āis common in ancient Near Eastern love poetry. It doesnāt imply that the lovers are genetically related but is symbolic of their closenessā (p. 1081 OT). I wonder how Biblical literalists deal with instances like this?
Continue reading “9/5 Reading (Song of Songs 4-6; Matthew 3-4)”
4/9 Reading (Ecclesiastes 10-12; Matthew 12)
Ecclesiastes 10: Not too much to say which isnāt surprising since Iām just trying to get through this book. I did find these verses interesting:
Continue reading “4/9 Reading (Ecclesiastes 10-12; Matthew 12)”