Monthly Archives: May 2019

The wife and other problems about Cain

Posted on May 30, 2019 by theoutwardquest

Forty years ago or so I would drop in every few weeks on a men’s Sunday School class. It seemed to me like the continuing discussion in that class was the problem of where Cain got his wife. They probably … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Israel, Bible, Genesis | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Limelight and the underlying theme

Posted on May 28, 2019 by theoutwardquest

Since I have retired I have greatly enjoyed being out of the limelight. When I was an active pastor I was–at least locally–in the limelight. I led an assembly of people in worship every week. I published a column. I … Continue reading →

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An Exodus of children?

Posted on May 24, 2019 by theoutwardquest

If you search online about ancient Egyptian slavery you will find that there is a lot of deconstruction. The idea that slaves built the pyramids is wrong.  Slavery became more of a thing much later, in the New Kingdom, usually … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Exodus | Tagged | 1 Comment

one letter changes everything

Posted on May 22, 2019 by theoutwardquest

After the discovery at biblical Dan of an inscription that contained the phrase, “the house of David”, some scholars also read the davidic dynasty into an unclear line of the Moabite Stele. The Moabite Stele is an extremely important account … Continue reading →

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Inferring and affirming the world we can’t see

Posted on May 21, 2019 by theoutwardquest

The thing that has been on my mind is how to think about an unseen supernatural realm. Such a realm was certainly part of the worldview of biblical personalities and writers–the priest who wrote the Genesis 1 creation story, the … Continue reading →

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Margaret Barker-drawing outside the lines

Posted on May 17, 2019 by theoutwardquest

Margaret Barker, a fiercely independent British Methodist scholar, has a theory about Solomon’s temple and the religion that was practiced there. She has taken up a quest to rediscover the worship that took place in that temple. This has become … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Israel, Deuteronomy | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

the doctrine of revelation and henotheism

Posted on May 15, 2019 by theoutwardquest

One of the blind spots in the academic study of religion has to do with revelation. Actual religious people believe that God has revealed or disclosed some of the meaning of existence and divinity. But titles like Mark Smith’s The … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Israel, Theology | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Heiser-reading the Bible with new eyes

Posted on May 13, 2019 by theoutwardquest

I have now read through Michael Heiser’s The Unseen Realm. He never does have a section that deals with my question of how one integrates the Bible’s supernatural worldview into modernity. This includes its idea of a pantheon where Israel’s … Continue reading →

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Heiser-holy war and tall people

Posted on May 9, 2019 by theoutwardquest

In The Unseen Realm Michael Heiser takes a stab at explaining holy war in ancient Israel and the troubling concept of harem, the dedication of conquered enemies to destruction. The Deuteronomy 32 worldview switches the usual concept of God’s election … Continue reading →

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Heiser-the angel in the bush

Posted on May 7, 2019 by theoutwardquest

I watched the whole Ten Commandments for the first time in years just before Easter. That movie filters the way my generation reads Exodus. Having recently been to a Metallica concert, I was struck by how that band’s song, Creeping … Continue reading →

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