In the wake of my earlier post on the Law of Moses, where Milgrom's essay puts forth the issue of disagreements within the contents of the Torah and introduces the idea of later appliaction or adaptation of the Torah, I thought it would be good to survey where the...
Genesis
What Lands Were Promised to Abraham and Israel?
Todd Bolen recently posted two excellent summaries of the opposing views of this question on his Bible Places blog. For those interested in eschatology (especially those who think they have all the answers about end times), these posts are *highly* recommended. The...
X-Box PaleoBabble: The Book of Enoch as a Video Game
Someone sent me this link today, knowing I've spent a good deal of time studying 1 Enoch. The book of 1 Enoch is now the basis for an impending X-Box video game (there is a sample trailer at the link - Japanese version). Check it out. What I saw looks cool, but I'd...
Genesis & Creation – Class 4 of 4
Editor's note: Replaced original link; here is the fourth/ final in the series of lectures on creation that Dr. Heiser gave at Grace Church Bellingham from September to October 2010: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=589NDmbH9nk
Genesis & Creation – Class 3 of 4
Editor's note: Original link replaced, and added the previous class of this series where Dr. Heiser spoke at Grace Church Bellingham on the creation of Genesis 1 in light of the ancient Near East. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOWTdhAFEh4...
Understanding the Christian Fundamentalist View of UFOs and Aliens, Part 6
We've reached the point now where we can transition from explaining the four pillars of the "fundamentalist" view to offering some points of (friendly) critique. Here they are for sake of review: 1. Abductee testimony of the forcible trauma of their experience. 2....
Walton and Van Wolde: Hebrew Bara’ Does Not Mean “To Create”
John Hobbins has a helpful post offering links to the critiques of the thesis of Ellen Van Wolde that Hebrew bara' does not mean "create". John Walton's recent book The Lost World of Genesis 1, positively reviewed by me here and (soon) in print, has popularized this...
The Cosmology of Genesis 1 and the Old Testament’s Pre-Scientific Worldview
Naked Bible readers will remember I got into this issue several times during the discussion on inerrancy. It's current again for me for two reasons. One is N.T. Wright has chimed in on the subject in this video, which I offer for the curious (I'm not inclined to care...
Where Did the NT Writers Get the Idea of Jesus as Co-Creator?
Last Sunday I gave a talk at church on Jesus as co-creator. Specifically, the discussion focused on the embodied "Word" idea and "Wisdom" in the Old Testament. Here it is: Editor's note: broken video removed. Michael Heiser December 6, 2009 from Grace Church...
Mike’s Being Talked About a Lot Lately (Or So It Seems)
Just a personal note. I've been hearing (and seeing, in email) my own name a lot recently -- how I (allegedly) believe or don't believe XYZ, or how someone is suspicious of me, or how I need to debate some person. Sigh. For the record (this is a laziness test for...
Does the Bible Teach Science? How the Bible’s Own Context Answers the Question
Here's the latest "infographic" video from Shaun. I think this audience will appreciate it a lot and find it useful for helping others to think through this issue. I've written (and commented in podcast episodes) that the Bible was not intended (by God) to teach...
PanBabylonianism: The Wellspring of Middle Earth PaleoBabble
I came across this essay recently. It's from the out of print book, Mesopotamian and the Bible, edited by Mark Chavalas and Lawson Younger. The essay is by Chavalas, a scholar of biblical studies and ancient Mesopotamia: Chavalas Assyriology and Biblical Studies...
The Genealogies of Genesis 5, Mathematical Approaches, and Theological Messaging
Below is the best essay to date I've found on this fascinating topic: Lloyd Bailey, "Biblical Math as Heilgeschichte?" in Richard D. Weis and David M. Carr, eds., A Gift of God in Due Season: Essays on Scripture and Community in Honor of James A. Sanders (vol. 225;...
Reviews of Scholarly Books in Biblical Studies, Archaeology, and Theology
I don't recall ever having blogged about the RBL site and blog (Review of Biblical Literature). Both the website and blog provide free access to book reviews on scholarly books for biblical studies, archaeology, and theology. The most recent issue showed up in my...
Genesis 1-2 as Polemic
Cris Putnam, the force behind the Logos Apologia website, has recently blogged about how the creation stories of Genesis 1-2 target ancient Egyptian creation myths. The impetus behind Cris' efforts is a recent book entitled, In the Beginning... We Misunderstood:...