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!

Merry Christmas!

2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.

Source:

Luke 2:1-7, NRSVUE 

Happy Hanukkah!

52 Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-eighth year, 53 they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering that they had built. 54 At the very season and on the very day that the nations had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. 55 All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed heaven, who had prospered them. 56 So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days and joyfully offered burnt offerings; they offered a sacrifice of well-being and a thanksgiving offering. 57 They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests and fitted them with doors. 58 There was very great joy among the people, and the disgrace brought by the nations was removed.

59 Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.


Source:

1 Maccabees 4:52-59, NRSVUE