Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
Last month I posted my reading of an interesting discussion by senior research fellow M. L. West about the nature of ancient Mid-East and Mediterranean world polytheism and how it appears to have evolved into monotheism in late antiquity. This post continues the remainder of that discussion by West. It outlines how and why the … Continue reading “How Polytheism morphed into Monotheism: philosophical moves, 1”
Two excellent interviews today on Radio National‘s The Spirit of Things program, one with cult counsellor Steven Hassan discussing the techniques of mind control and recruitment used for certain suicide and Islamic cults, comparing them with more traditional cults such as the Moonies; another with Abdel Bari Atwan, Editor-in-Chief of the London-based Arabic newspaper al-Quds … Continue reading “Death cults and indoctrination”
While I like to be rational and value healthy scepticism I am not interested in “disproving” the Bible. The idea of having any sort of agenda to “prove” or “disprove” anything to do with things or persons biblical seems quite pointless to me. (Who was it who said when asked if he believed in the … Continue reading “thoughts on “proving” or “disproving” things biblical”
17. Polycrates and Irenaeus on John Polycrates on John Bauckham proceeds to show that Polycrates knew that John the author of the Gospel was not the Son of Zebedee, member of the Twelve, John. He begins with his letter to the bishop of Rome over the ‘correct’ date on which to observe ‘Easter’ (or the … Continue reading “Bauckham’s Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. Chapter 17”