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Showing posts from January, 2025

Polygamy

Polygamy!    Is it morally acceptable to have 2 wives? To answer this question, we need to draw a proper distinction between that which is moral & that which is wise.  Matthew 5:27–28 (ESV): You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. As you can see, in the Sermon on the Mount, adultery is not defined merely by the fact that he or she is not your spouse. Adultery is defined by lustful intent. What is lust? Lust is, at its root, the failure to love God over & above everything & everyone else & your neighbor before yourself.  Loving yourself more than God & others is definitional to lust, & lust is what underwrites sexual sin - not the mere sex/gender of your target &/or the lack of marriage certificate.    Using Matt. 5:19 - or any text - to move the moral grounds of moral guil...
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Psalm 8

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. 1  O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2  Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. 3  When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4  what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5  Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6  You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7  all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8  the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 9  O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! ...
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Tackling Tradition 21: Petrine Primacy & the Key of David

It’s not unusual to find Roman Catholics arguing for Petrine Primacy by way of Isaiah 22.   Arguing from Matthew 16, so they say, Christ gave the keys to Peter who is, in turn, the faithful steward prophesied in Isaiah 22. Here is the text.  15  Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16  What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17  Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18  and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house. 19  I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20  In that day I will call my servant Eliakim th...
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Dialogue With Skeptic (Part 4): Mark’s Gospel

Robert J Rolle has decided to publish his thoughts about Mark’s Gospel on his YouTube channel. He brings up a number of issues, so I thought I would address them here, since they represent the sort of thing that I see on Instagram as well as YouTube these days.  Anonymous Authorship He notes that the Gospels are all anonymous.  No, they aren’t.  See here .  He also notes that Mark doesnt contain a birth narrative, which is true.  I’m not really sure why critics think this an issue. Lack of a Birth Narrative The absence of a birth narrative does not put the text at odds with Matthew & Luke.    Rather, it demonstrates that the author had a specific narrative intent related to the possibility that the text would one day be used for teaching purposes related to the understanding of the 3fold use of the Law & Gospel.  King : Luke’s primary audience is the Gentile community.     He depicts Christ as the theandric Caesar. ...
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