The Pool of Siloam

Okay, I haven’t posted anything on here in over a month. It is a bit difficult to get back in rhythm after all the holidays.  By the way, a happy belated new year, 2016, to all. Now, I suppose we can get back into writing a bit. I don’t really have any special commentary or essay at this time, but whenever that happens, I can always share something I recently read that I feel would be worthwhile for all to read, so here is something. I suppose that many of us know the story in the Gospel of John in which Jesus heals a man that was blind from birth by spitting on the ground, making clay with it, putting the clay in the man’s eyes, and later telling him to wash in the Siloam Pool. Well, in case you don’t know it, I am sharing John 9: 1-11below, so you can read it for yourself.

[1] As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth.

[2] And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

[3] Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him.

[4] We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work.

[5] As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

[6] As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay,

[7] saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Silo'am" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

[8] The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, "Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?"

[9] Some said, "It is he"; others said, "No, but he is like him." He said, "I am the man."

[10] They said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?"

[11] He answered, "The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, `Go to Silo'am and wash'; so I went and washed and received my sight (RSV Bible)."

There is more to the story in context, but this gives a basic understanding of it. You probably thought that I was going to give some sort of exposition on the story, but I am not. This post is just a bit of archeological apologetics. That pool was not some fictional place. It was a real place in history for which we have archeological evidence. I wanted to share this article on the pool from the Biblical Archaeology Society titled: The Siloam Pool: Where Jesus Healed the Blind Man. I hope you enjoy reading and getting more acquainted with the historical background of the pool which dates about eight centuries before Jesus. Blessings and the article is below!

The Siloam Pool: Where Jesus Healed the Blind Man - Biblical Archaeology Society

References:

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/the-siloam-pool-where-jesus-healed-the-blind-man/?mqsc=E3824051.

RSV Bible

Unifying the Faith: Bishop Michael Curry's Christmas Message

I hope that you are all having a wonderful Christmas! I just wanted to share a post from the sibling blog. Blessings and the link is below.



Unifying the Faith: Bishop Michael Curry's Christmas Message

The Bible on Location

A friend just came back from Israel, and shared a copy of this recent book by Julie Baretz. I haven't even finished reading it, but by browsing through it, I can tell it is an excellent book. I simply had to recommend it. All I can say is that anyone that had and has the privilege of having Julie as a guide was and is definitely in for a fantastic experience. Hope you enjoy it...blessings! The book is the following:

The Bible on Location: Off the Beaten Path in Ancient and Modern Israel Paperback – June 1, 2015 by Julie Baretz (Author).

The Amazon link is below.

The Bible on Location: Off the Beaten Path in Ancient and Modern Israel: Julie Baretz: 9780827612228: Amazon.com: Books

Reference:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Bible-Location-Beaten-Ancient/dp/0827612222

The Letters

I just wanted to share the trailer for this film about Mother Teresa that comes out this coming Friday. Enjoy!


https://youtu.be/C6Z5BGyia58


The Letters

At Least Fifty People in the Bible Can Be Confirmed by Archaeology

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, if you are a reader from the United States. This is not a very long article. I just wanted to share something from Biblical Archeology Society. Archaeology is obviously a great form of apologetics. Here is a quote from said article.

"Mykytiuk writes that 'at least 50 people mentioned in the Bible have been identified in the archaeological record. Their names appear in inscriptions written during the period described by the Bible and in most instances during or quite close to the lifetime of the person identified(www.biblicalarchaeology.org)'"

Well, I hope you enjoy reading it. The link to the article is below. Blessings!

50 People in the Bible Confirmed Archaeologically - Biblical Archaeology Society









Reference:

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/

Happy Belated Birthday to this Blog

On November 3rd, three days ago, this blog turned seven (7) years old. It is amazing how quickly time passes. It seems as if it was just yesterday that I was writing the 1st post. Well, I know that it seems that there are not too many followers who have actually registered themselves as official followers; however, if you could read the stats as I can, you would know that thousands of people have stopped by, and I am sure that many are followers, secretely. I hope you enjoy reading, and God willing, I will continue posting. Happy Belated Birthday!

The Sola Scriptura Eschatology and Dispensationalism Obsession These Days Makes Me Wonder

The book of the Acts of the Apostles which was written by the same anonymous author who wrote the Gospel of Luke sometime between 80 and 90 AD tells us the following in Chapter 1: 9-11:

"9 And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, "'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven (RSV Bible).'"

What is interesting in the passage is the part that says: “who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Obviously, the early church believed that Jesus was coming back.

The Nicene Creed from 325 AD has a portion which reads:

"He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end (https://www.ccel.org/creeds/nicene.creed.html)."

So, obviously, since the beginning Christians have believed that Christ would return. Seemingly, a return was and is still expected; however, I don't know if dwelling on it or propagating it to the level that many televangelists and authors have done really lines up with the very Scriptures they use to do so. Many are so obsessed that they claim to almost know the exact date of this event. A good example of what I am saying is The Late, Great Planet Earth, a book by Hal Lindsey with Carole C. Carlson which had already sold about 28 million copies around 15 years ago despite that it sort of claimed the 80’s was quite possibly THE last decade. Sounds crazy, but I suppose the reason for this hype is that people want certainty, in other words they want to know how much time we have. I have often heard evangelical ministers give long studies on eschatology and the end of times, and how everything will turn out in the end, as if they know everything. Moreover, they dwell on this subject of Christ’s return in an all-consuming fanaticism that isn’t even proportionate to what the Scriptures says about it. The truth is that they know very little, but the need for certainty in many has created a demand that has helped individuals like Jack Van Impe and Hal Lindsey become very popular which I am sure has also not hurt their wallets either.

In closing, I hate to burst everyone’s bubble, but just going by what the Scriptures say in Matthew 24:36, we should understand that we have no certainty on the specific timing of the return of Christ, using Scriptures. So, what does Matthew 24:36 say? It reads as follows:

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, [a] but the Father only (RSV Bible)."

Of course, I am using Scriptures to state that “no one knows,” and perhaps that is not a strong enough argument, but the individuals making the eschatological claims are also using the Scriptures, so it is what it is. Just to make a final note, I think that what people should be dwelling on with relevance to eschatology and what they should be obsessing about is in the entire next chapter, Matthew 25. In fact, Matthew 25: 35-36 seems to be of great importance when read in context, it reads:

"35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me (RSV Bible).’"

Well, I hope everyone now understands why I chose for this post the title: The Sola Scriptura Eschatology and Dispensationalism Obsession These Days Makes Me Wonder. Summer is over, and autumn is here, so make the best of it. Blessings and until next time!

References:

https://www.ccel.org/creeds/nicene.creed.html.

RSV Bible