Hosea excerpt

 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?

    What shall I do with you, O Judah?

Your love is like a morning cloud,

    like the dew that goes away early.

- Hosea 6:4, NRSVUE 

Happy Easter 2026!

24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body.[a] 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 The women[b] were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men[c] said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen.[d] 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to the hands of sinners and be crucified and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.[e]

Footnotes

• 24.3 Other ancient authorities add of the Lord Jesus
• 24.5 Gk They
• 24.5 Gk but they
• 24.5 Other ancient authorities lack He is not here but has risen
• 24.12 Other ancient authorities lack 24.12


Source: NRSVUE, Luke 24

No AI

No AI is used or has ever been used on any posts on this blog.

An article dealing with sex in ancient literature

Paul and the author of the Onos operated within intellectual environments where people looked for hidden meanings. Paul evangelized cities of the eastern Roman Empire—places like Corinth, Thessalonica, and Ephesus—where mystery cults of Isis, Dionysus, and Mithras were common. These religions often involved initiation rituals, secret knowledge, symbolic meals, and ideas of transformation or rebirth, frequently expressed through ritualized bodily acts.

The foregoing is an excerpt from an article by Lauren K. McCormick titled: Sex and the Search for Religious Truth, Insights from Onos and Paul. It is published in biblicalarchaeology.org. The author states that Paul and the author of the Onos operated within intellectual environments where people looked for hidden meanings. I will not go into further details. Read the full article at the link below.

Sex and the Search for Religious Truth - Biblical Archaeology Society

Reference:

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-rome/sex-and-the-search-for-religious-truth/?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=BHDA_Daily_Newsletter&utm_campaign=E26139D0

Luke 12 excerpt

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Source:

Luke 12:13-21, NRSVUE 

Heaven in the Bible

Recently I read an article that seemed appropriate for sharing on this apologetics blog. The article is titled: Is heaven real? Science may reveal where God’s eternal kingdom exists - Where exactly is heaven? This opinion article is by Michael Guillén asks the question, where exactly is the heaven described in the Bible? An extract from it reads as follows:

According to the Bible, the lowest level of heaven is Earth’s atmosphere. The mid-level heaven is outer space. The highest-level heaven is what we’re talking about: It’s where God dwells. 

Read the full article at the following link.

Beyond the stars: How modern science confirms the Bible’s vision of Heaven | Fox News

Reference:

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/is-heaven-real-science-may-reveal-where-gods-eternal-kingdom-exists

Happy New Year

 Happy 2026 to all!