Monsters and the Bible

Monsters are an ever-present feature of modern cinema, from Dracula to the Kraken. However, monsters are by no means a modern invention, and many of the same creatures that inhabit our modern horror movies have roots that stretch back thousands of years…. (biblicalarchaeology.org).

Firstly, Happy Halloween! The foregoing excerpt is from an article by Nathan Steinmeyer titled: Biblical Monsters Seven mysterious creatures of the biblical world. The article is published on Bible History Daily and from the BAS (Biblical Archeology Society) Library. Anyhow, if biblical monsters interest you, I encourage you to read the full article at the following link. Blessings!

Biblical Monsters - Biblical Archaeology Society

Reference:

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-monsters/

On new posts

In case there are no new post to read, it is either that I am on a hiatus or simply not posting. In the past I have posted regularly on here; however, in the future posts may or may not appear regularly.

Church business or business of the church

 “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone."

- Jesus

 

I will say a few things in case anyone doesn't want to read further after what I’ve said. Of course, something we don't read could be an idea which never crossed our minds, previously. This may almost be a brief rant, but it’s not intended as a diatribe. Yes, the introductory quote will be relevant. That quote is relevant in Christianity because if Jesus didn’t want to be called good, it’s probably a beneficial concept to pursue ourselves. “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone." I know many who consider themselves progressive Christians. There is nothing wrong with being a Christian wanting a better Christianity. Certainly, some portions of Christian history aren’t all that admirable; however, some were indeed. For example, Mother Teresa and many others were exemplary in their faith. We can’t change history. We must take the good with the bad, and then again often this is true for all aspects of life. My concern in this post is that if we really shouldn’t call ourselves good, we should be careful in judging others. Well, that is my introduction, here we go.

First and foremost, if we judge, we are not progressives. We are simply someone being critical of someone who has a slightly different worldview. We may as well accept we are also fundamentalists with a different worldview than the one we believe is wrong. A good question I like to ask is can I prove the other person is wrong in their view? Furthermore, if we answer yes because it's how we interpret Scriptures, I rest my case. We are then obviously fundamentalists like any other, but with a different view (or a different type). Based on my experience, if one is really searching, our worldview might change more than once throughout our life, depending on many factors. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t question or challenge what doesn’t seem right.

We constantly must evaluate right and wrong as we grow in our spiritual lives. I personally question many things. A good example for me is should the Lord's message be given freely? I have always thought, yes. Did Jesus say in The Great Commission go into all the world and charge a hefty fee for the good news? Some aspects of church have become a business. Yes, there are some who have private jets, and all sorts of things to aid in spreading their message. A lot of that message is interpretation of Scripture by them. Sadly, Scriptures are often interpreted for someone's own personal benefit. If we look at church history, not just using a Sola-Scriptura worldview, we might learn that some of the customs of the early fathers were not the way we've interpreted them to be today. This is probably why many prefer not to study history that much. There’s much in Scriptures that can enlighten us about making a living from the Good News. For instance, from Scriptures alone we know that Saint Paul was a tent maker. He worked secularly. Don't get me wrong, everyone knows if one is fair and honest in what they do. Do your own self-analysis. It is always good to check where we are at a certain moment in time like the present. I will stop here. Blessings!

A video on Biblical Archeology

I ran across this very informative video on YouTube at ReligionForBreakfast. A description of their site is as follows:

An educational channel dedicated to the academic, nonsectarian study of religion. We promote improving the public's religious literacy by exploring humanity's beliefs and rituals through an anthropological, sociological, and archaeological lens.

Religion for Breakfast does not endorse any particular religious tradition or non-religious perspective. Please be respectful in the comments!

The host, Dr. Andrew M. Henry, is a scholar of religious studies. His research focus is early Christianity and late Roman religion and earned his PhD at Boston University. Follow him on Twitter @andrewmarkhenry.

These videos are freely available here on YouTube. If you are an instructor, feel free to use the YouTube link to my videos in your syllabi and classrooms. I do not permit downloading my videos and re-uploading them to a separate site or channel. This is called freebooting, and it violates Religion for Breakfast's copyright.

Anyhow the video is titled Introduction to Biblical Archaeology. Hope you enjoy watching.

Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fyI1XOselI

An article on Mary Magdalene

I have been wanting to share an article on Mary Magdalene which was recently published by Biblical Archaeology Society. The article initially raises the question, How did her reputation evolve “from saint to sinner”? I personally do not recall ever hearing that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute or the wife of Jesus while growing up in my parents’ home. Perhaps, the reason for the foregoing was because there is extraordinarily little evidence for those ideas in the canonized scriptures. I am aware of how the ideas came about and were promoted, but even with Scriptures aside, it is probably difficult to make those cases. I mean if one leaves it to Hollywood and media, they will fabricate anything and make it seem credible. For instance, they can take John DeLorean’s life and make it look like he was just a drug dealer (a tragic flaw due to desperation, no doubt) while overlooking his education and brilliance. If most people had the drive and talent Mr. DeLorean had, we would have a far more advanced society than we currently have, but I do not want to get sidetracked from the article in reference.

I am sharing the article from BAS titled: Was Mary Magdalene Wife of Jesus? Was Mary Magdalene a Prostitute? The BAS staff shares a work by Birger A. Pearson titled: “From Saint to Sinner.” Pearson’s writing is scholarly. He references Jane Schaberg, for example. I am not doing an analysis on the article. I am merely briefly describing it with the hope it interests you into reading it. I certainly enjoyed. Anyhow, enough said, for now. Read the article at the link below.

Was Mary Magdalene Wife of Jesus? Was Mary Magdalene a Prostitute? - Biblical Archaeology Society

Reference:

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/was-mary-magdalene-wife-of-jesus-was-mary-magdalene-a-prostitute/

Be still!

 “Peace! Be still!” 

~ Jesus, Mark 4:39

Hans Küng passed away on April 6, 2021

Catholic theologian Hans Küng was buried April 16 in the southwestern German city of Tübingen following funeral services. Küng, a native of Switzerland, died on April 6 at the age of 93 (www.ncronline.org/).

The foregoing excerpt is from the National Catholic Reporter. The article also reads as follows.

The world-renowned theologian planned the final ceremonies himself, with the saying of prayers that he formulated and the performance of cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach and compositions by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Due to ongoing pandemic restrictions in Germany, only a limited number of people were present. The local television broadcaster SWR carried the ceremonies live.

In the funeral sermon, Fr. Wolfgang Gramer said Küng had fought for the freedom of God's children, including in his efforts to challenge what he viewed as the wrongly understood dogma of papal infallibility. The Vatican and the German bishops had withdrawn Küng's teaching license in 1979 partly because of the theologian's critique of the dogma (www.ncronline.org/).

I personally never had the opportunity to meet Hans Küng, but if you are interested in finding out more about him, it will not be too difficult to find a plethora of material written about him or by him. The world of Theology and Ecumenism lost a hero on April 6, 2021. I do not think I can share more about him than what others have said. I strongly recommend reading more about him if you have never done so. I certainly have found him very inspiring for many years.

The Catholic Weekly said the following:

Hans Küng certainly had talent. His doctoral dissertation on Karl Barth, arguably the greatest of 20th-century Protestant theologians, became a pioneering book in ecumenical theology.

 The Guardian published the following about Küng:

Despite the impression that this self-confident, clever and ever so slightly vain priest may have given, Küng was not one of nature’s rebels. His chosen approach would have been to work from within, but the Catholic church in his heyday was intolerant of such dissenting voices among its priests. If the choice was silence or uneasy internal exile, he was not going to bite his tongue.

When challenged about his maverick role in the history of modern Catholicism, he remained fond to the end of quoting one of his heroes, Pope Gregory the Great: “If scandal is taken as the truth, then it is better to allow scandal to arise than to abandon the truth.”

As I said before, it will not be too difficult to find a plethora of material written about Hans Küng, or written by him. A warning, however, be prepared to be informed. I really cannot say more than others who knew him well, so I will end here. Regardless, it is an honor to do this brief homage to him. Rest in Peace, Hans Küng. A final note: feel free to click on the links to the referenced articles below to read more.

 

 

 

References:

https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/george-weigel-hans-kung-and-the-perils-of-fame/

https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/funeral-hans-k-ng-celebrated-ecumenist-great-spiritual-teacher

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/08/hans-kung-obituary