One of the most well known biblical commands is the sixth commandment of the Decalogue (according to protestant enumeration). This commandment occurs in the 20th chapter of the book of Exodus and the fifth chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. In its most well-known rendition, the King James Version (KJV), this commandment states “thou shalt […]
Entries Tagged as 'Sunday Study'
Sunday Study: Interpreting the Sixth Commandment Part I
September 6th, 2009 5 Comments
Tags: Old Testament Ethics · Sunday Study · Ten Commandments · Theology
Sunday Study R 13: Romans, Revelations and the Role of the State
September 4th, 2009 6 Comments
In a previous post, Sunday Study: 666 The Number of the Beast, I exegeted Revelation 13’s infamous reference to the mark of the beast, in that post I argued that the first beast is a reference to Rome; a world empire, built on seven hills that ruled over all the nations of the earth at […]
Tags: Hermeneutics · Hitler · Role of the State · Sunday Study · Theology
Sunday Study: Does the Bible Teach that Children Should be Executed for Swearing?
August 23rd, 2009 3 Comments
One command in the Old Testament which is frequently lampooned by sceptical readers is Leviticus 20:9, If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head. Some contend that that this passage commands the courts […]
Tags: Capital Punishment · Hermeneutics · Old Testament Ethics · Sunday Study · Swearing
Sunday Study: 666 The Number of the Beast
August 17th, 2009 7 Comments
On 29 March 1982 Iron Maiden released the album The Number of the Beast; this album’s self-titled song was to become one of the most influential heavy metal songs of all time and stirred up a firestorm of controversy. Apparently Iron Maiden’s bassist, Steve Harris, had been up late one night watching Damian: Omen II, […]
Tags: 616 · 666 · Iron Maiden · Nero · Number of the Beast · Sunday Study
Sunday Study: The Mosaic Covenant as a Vassal Treaty
August 9th, 2009 Comments Off on Sunday Study: The Mosaic Covenant as a Vassal Treaty
The central event in the Old Testament is the enactment of the Mosaic Covenant. God and Israel (the descendants of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham) entered into a covenant during the time of Moses where Israel promised to worship God and obey his laws and God promised to give them land and protection. The covenant […]
Tags: Old Testament Ethics · Sunday Study
Sunday Study
August 2nd, 2009 Comments Off on Sunday Study
There will be no Sunday Study this week as the past week has been taken up with preparing for the memorial service on Waiheke Island, the Faith and Science conference I spoke at yesterday and two other deadlines for written work due Friday; and on top of all that, our family car blew its head […]
Tags: Sunday Study
Sunday Study: Abraham and Isaac – Did God Command the Killing of an Innocent?
July 26th, 2009 17 Comments
Perhaps the most infamous passage in the Hebrew scriptures occurs in Genesis 22:2, Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Of course, as anyone who […]
Tags: Abraham · Abram · Ethics · Genesis · Isaac · John Hare · Kant · Kenneth Kitchen · Killing Innocents · Louise Anthony · Old Testament Ethics · Philip Quinn · Robert Adams · Selection · Stephen Evans · Sunday Study
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages.
