Biblical Heritage Center Blog

Dr. James Tabor's latest blog provides great insights about how scholars come up with their interpretations and views about the meanings of the messages of the Gospels.  "When it comes to a critical reading of our New Testament gospels and other related texts one can get the impression that scholars end up rather arbitrarily `picking and choosing' whatever they want–especially in trying to construct their portraits of the `historical Jesus.' In other words, as Albert Schweitzer cautioned long ago, all too often historians seem to come up with a Jesus made in their own image, so that texts and traditions they favor are retained whereas those they disfavor are discarded as unreliable. In fact, I would argue that more often quite the opposite is the case. Many of those who claim simply to “take the Bible as it is,” without any critical discernment of sources, traditions, and historical contexts actually end up as the ones who quite arbitrarily fall into this trap of sub...

ELOHIYM is the transliteration of the Hebrew word that is usually translated “God” by translators. But, since “God” can mean different things to different readers -- YAHWEH, Jesus or Allah (these clearly are not simply different names for the same entity) -- I decided to use ELOHIYM instead . Who is ELOHIYM? Everything we know about Him in the context of the account is recorded in the twenty-five verses that preceded the above quote. ELOHIYM is the creator and maker of: light, a solid dome structure, dry ground, seas, plants, trees, water creatures, flying creatures, and animals . He names things and determines their functions . ELOHIYM measures all of His work by the TOV Standard . In order to understand who we are – we must first understand who He is. Chances are that the answer isn’t the one you might be expecting. Read the complete article at -- http://www.biblicalheritage.org/DTB/0513DTB_Image_of_The_Creator.pdf

"Life is the currency of the spiritual dimension. . . " Read the complete quote at  https://www.facebook.com/TovCenter  & also "LIKE" the TOV Center.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have unearthed the remnants of an ancient mythological cave, ominously described as being the ‘gate to hell.' The fabled gate to the underworld, discovered in Turkey, is referred to in legend as Pluto’s Gate.   The ancient cave was commemorated in Greco-Roman mythology and traditions as the doorway to the ‘underworld.’ See picture & read complete article at -- http://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/388733/Gate-to-Hell-unearthed-by-archaeologists-in-Turkey

The Pharaoh of Egypt, a living god of the Egyptians, was afraid and living in dread of the Israelites. He was the leader of the Egyptian armies. Wouldn’t you think he would mobilize his armies and attack the Israelites? So, what does he do? Pharaoh comes up with another plan – a really strange one when you think about it -- he mobilizes two midwives and gives them orders! This is a story that every Bible reader should know and teach their children – especially their daughters. Read complete article at --  http://www.biblicalheritage.org/DTB/0413DTB_Pharaoh_vs_Two_Midwives.pdf

I just finished reading two very informative and important books -- Perpetrators Victims Bystanders: The Jewish Catastrophe 1933-1945 by Raul Hilberg and The Holocaust, The Church, and the Law of Unintended Consequences by Anthony J. Sciolino. Thought I would share a few quotes with you. “Religious affiliation in Nazi Germany 40 percent Roman Catholic and 54 percent Protestant – a nation that was 94 percent Christian . Nazi Germany was more Christian than the United States of America. How could one of the worst catastrophes in human history have started in one of the most Christian countries of Christian Europe, birthplace of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation? Father Michael McGarry, a Paulist priest and rector of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem articulates this most disconcerting reality: `We Christians need to remember that studying the Shoah (Holocaust) is not simply reading about what happened to the Jews, but what some Christians – some s...

Let’s begin by making sure we understand what Jesus’ Bible was. When most people read the word “Scriptures” in their Bible, many picture “their Bible.” “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,   and how from infancy   you have known the Holy Scriptures ,   which are able to make you wise   for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.   All Scripture is given by inspiration of God   and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,   so that the servant of God   may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17) Is your Bible what you pictured when you read the above verses? Is your Bible what the author of those words had in his mind too? If we believe that the verses above mean our Bible, then we assume that the author’s Scriptures meant our Bible. But what if he had something else in mind – then wha...