One of the problems with many of the tribes of people, or even individuals, who are mentioned in Biblical texts is that there are no extra-biblical sources. The reason is often that they were smaller players on the world stage. They existed in a really insignificant area, as we can tell by the lack of…
The easiest explanation is that Israel was located on a major trade route. It was an area that was conquered over and over again. Donald Redford, in Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times, gives an excellent overview of all of this. Since the Levant area, or Canaanite, was a major trade route, it was…
My go-to work on, at least the early history of Israel, is Donald Redford’s Egypt, Canaan and Israel. When we look at the Israelites being dominated at that time, during their history as the dual nations of Israel and Judah, the reason is simple. They existed in a key geographical area that was a major…
Dante used many common tropes of his time when describing hell. We can look at one quickly. Why is hell underground? The idea during medieval times was that things that were dirty, that were sinful, impure, were drawn downwards. So all of the Earthly problems would be drawn downward, with the worst being in the…
Zoroastrianism is a bit difficult. We just don’t know much about the earliest formations of the religion. It most likely began with a people called the Aryans, which is where Hinduism also develops from. There are a lot of connections between Hinduism and Zoroastrianism, including a lot of similarity in the languages that composed their…
In my last post, I stated that religion, and in particular, Christianity, can have value for an atheist. This really stems from my view that Jesus can also be seen in a non-religious manner. As I mentioned before, during some of my teenage years, I was an atheist, and what I would call a militant…
This was a topic that was suggested, and one that I think is very important. I’m going to come out and say that I believe truth and morality are subjective. But I’m not married to that view. I could be wrong. That’s what I will be working through in this series. This series will be…
I think we know Jesus wasn’t white. Every once in a while, a meme like this will pop up in my feed, and I always find them interesting. My educational background is in history and religious studies. I love both subjects. But for a long time, I was on the wrong side of both, at…
I wrote a little while back on Facebook about how the older I get, the more faith becomes important for me. Some really great questions were brought up in the comments. Those questions were also answered, but nonetheless, they have been on my mind ever since. A few years ago, I wrote an article titled,…
There were many books that didn’t make the cut when it came to the Bible. And even more that never were in the running; that weren’t ever considered. In fact, even some of the books that are currently in the Bible hardly made the cut, such as Hebrews and Revelation. So why were some books…