I just wanted to put something on the blog (again) about my rejection of the idea that Revelation 12 has anything to do with the second coming or end times in general. I’ve been getting emails with links to YouTube videos like this one that use my thoughts about...
Astral prophecy
Paul’s Use of Genesis 15:5 in Romans 4:18 in Light of Early Jewish Deification Traditions: Part 6: Origen’s Commentary on Romans 4 and the Reception of the Qualitative Interpretation
This is the final installment of David Burnett’s guest series. This reading of Genesis 15:5 may appear novel yet it has an ancient antecedent in one of the earliest commentaries on Romans. Origen believed that in Romans 4, Paul did in fact understand the...
Paul’s Use of Genesis 15:5 in Romans 4:18 in Light of Early Jewish Deification Traditions: Part 5: Resurrection and Astral Immortality in Early Judaism and Paul
This is Part 5 of David Burnett’s guest series. In early Judaism it was widely accepted that in the resurrection or afterlife, the righteous were to in some sense become as the stars or angels.[1. See above conversation on 2 Baruch 51. For further treatment of...
Paul’s Use of Genesis 15:5 in Romans 4:18 in Light of Early Jewish Deification Traditions: Part 4: Becoming as the Stars and Inheritance of the Nations, Continued
This is Part 4 of David Burnett’s guest blogging series Philo’s Spec. Law 4.187, 2 Baruch 21:4; 48:8, and Romans 4:17: Misconstrual and a Missing Link? This passage is frequently cited by commentators on Rom 4:17, rightly recognizing the parallel language...
Paul’s Use of Genesis 15:5 in Romans 4:18 in Light of Early Jewish Deification Traditions: Part 3: Becoming as the Stars and the Inheritance of the Nations
This is Part 3 of the series by David Burnett; see Part 1, Part 2 Part 3 – Becoming as the Stars and the Inheritance of the Nations The Deuteronomic Vision of the Celestial Bodies as the Gods (or Angels) of the Nations The precedent for this assumed connection...
Paul’s Use of Genesis 15:5 in Romans 4:18 in Light of Early Jewish Deification Traditions: Part 2: Early Jewish Qualitative Interpretation of Genesis 15:5 and Related Texts
This is Part 2 of a series of guest pots by David Burnett. Part 1 is located here. – MSH PART 2 – Early Jewish Qualitative Interpretation of Genesis 15:5 and Related Texts Philo of Alexandria and the Saying “So Shall Your Seed Be” In commenting on Genesis 15:5...
Paul’s Use of Genesis 15:5 in Romans 4:18 in Light of Early Jewish Deification Traditions: Part 1: Introduction
This is the first of four installments on this topic, all written by David Burnett. This series is based on a paper David read at the Society of Biblical Literature. — MSH Paul’s Use of Genesis 15:5 in Romans 4:18 in Light of Early Jewish Deification...
September 11: Happy Birthday to Jesus
Many readers will know that I believe the actual birthdate of Jesus was Sept 11, 3 BC. This isn’t based on any original research of my own (here’s a short YouTube video of me discussing the date). Rather, it is based on the work of E. L. Martin’s The...
Ancient Astrology as a Common Root for Science and Pseudo-Science
That’s the title of this essay from the Electronic Journal of Folklore. The essay is from vol. 15 (published in 2000). It’s also available in PDF. It’s a good overview of ancient astronomy / astrology and gets into familiar concepts and themes that...
Modern Mythology of the Precession of the Equinoxes
I’d like to alert PaleoBabble readers to Jason Colavito’s series on the modern myth of precession. Here are the first and second posts. For those to whom the term “precession” is new, as Jason notes, it is the idea that our lives are...
A Christmas Suggestion from PaleoBabble
Some of you may have heard me make mention on Coast to Coast AM about “astral prophecy” and its relationship to Revelation 12 and the star of Bethlehem. Here’s an excellent video on that idea. Not expensive either. I watched it recently. The only...