Biblical Heritage Center Blog

  This is the third email about the confrontation between “ the image of God ” and a “ talking religious snake ”! A few minutes ago, at the beginning of the conversation between the woman and the snake , the woman believed this:   If I touch or eat the forbidden fruit I will die!   But the snake told her this:   When you eat the forbidden fruit you will become a wise god.   While all of that was going on:   The man stood there listening and saying nothing.   Now put yourself in the woman’s shoes. She has three option to choose from.   1. Do nothing and things remain the same.   2. Touch the forbidden fruit and die.   3. Eat the forbidden fruit and become a wise god.   This is one of those rare opportunities in a Bible story that we are allowed to see what someone is thinking (3:6a). Pay close attention to what she is seeing in her mind.   ● She saw that the tree was good for food.   ● She saw that it was ple...

  In my previous email I asked you to compare the woman’s response to the commandment Yahweh gave the man. If you did that you probably noticed that Yahweh did not say “ do not touch the tree .” It looks like the man added a commandment of his own, but for some reason – he didn’t tell her . And by the way, Yahweh didn’t tell her either. Therefore, in her reality, Yahweh commanded it. There were two people with two different realities about God’s will in the Garden of Eden!   Does anything about the name I chose for this contest stand out -- “ Two Humans vs. One Snake ”? Modern Americans tend to view it as “ One Man and One Woman vs. One Snake .” We see people as individuals .   The ancients did not view people that way. “ Individualism ” did not exist until the 16 th century CE. In addition to that, the first story in the Bible set the stage for this story. The humans in it were part of a collective called “ the image of God ,” which was also identified as a “ family .”...

  Round 1 Two Humans vs. One Snake   The story is introduced in Genesis 2:24-3:1b but it’s almost impossible to see because of chapter and verse breaks were that were inserted centuries after the Hebrew words were written. Below is our translation.   The man and woman were both ARUM and had not been shamed. The snake was more ARUM than any wild animal of the field.   ARUM is a Hebrew word that means subtle, shrewd, clever, crafty, and cunning . [i] The question raised in the introduction is this:   Which will be more subtle, shrewd, clever, crafty, and cunning: Two Humans or One Snake?   Those words set the stage for one of the most important stories in Christianity and Judaism, a story that has directly and indirectly affected billions of lives over the past 2,500 years. In order to understand it, there are some things you need to know first.   ● Yahweh the god planted the trees in the garden, all of which are p...

  A few days ago, I wrote about the stories of the “ Two ADAMS ” in Genesis 1 & 2 ( CLICK HERE ). “ ADAM ” is the transliteration of a Hebrew word that appears in both stories, but the meanings in the stories are different.   ADAM #1 is a human collective -- one male and one female human . They are created at the same time , equals in the eyes of God , and both blessed by God together . The blessings empower the humans to live as God wants them to live. That is unbelievably valuable wisdom for members of the ancient audience .   ADAM #2 is one male human . He was made by God , but not blessed by God . After being made, God left him alone and went to Eden. God planted a garden in Eden and then went came back to the man. Then God took the man to the garden in Eden and gave him a commandment about how to not die . The man would be the only human alive until after God created the animals .   The story of the creation of the female in the second story i...

  Jesus’ chief disciple, Peter  (also called Simon Peter or Cephas), has been associated with Rome for nearly 2,000 years.   ● The earliest testimony to the apostle Peter’s presence in  Rome  is a letter from a Christian deacon named Gaius, written around 170 or 180 C.E .   ● Gaius tells about the wondrous things in Rome, including something called a  tropaion  where Peter established a church —in fact,  the  Church, the Roman Catholic church at the site where St. Peter’s Basilica is today .   ● The  Apocryphal Acts of Peter , recounts many things that Peter did in the city.    ● At the end of this text, Peter flees from Roman authorities on the Via Appia where he unexpectedly, Peter meets  Jesus . You can still see there a bit of marble pavement that miraculously preserve Jesus’ footprints.   ● Interestingly, the Bible says nothing about Peter ever traveling to Rome.    Read the BAS blog by Brown...

  (Purim began at sundown yesterday and ends at sundown today. This article by Rabbi Leynor was published on March 4, 2015.)   Tonight is the beginning of Purim. There is the old joke about Jewish holidays, "They tried to kill us, they couldn't, let's eat!" Funny as this may sound, there is much truth. Purim has taught me some very important things. First, the central characters are both male and female. If you don't know the story, get a good translation of the Book of Esther and enjoy. The story has TOV and RAH, good against evil, palace intrigue, wonderful plot twists and turns and a surprise ending. The female lead, Queen Esther, is beautiful, intelligent, creative and courageous. She has to hide her Jewish identity for her own safety. (Sound familiar?) Actually, there were many "Purims" in Jewish history. There were many Jewish communities that were in danger of annihilation, but somehow those who held some power in the greater community stepped fo...

  Before I knew anything about the connection of tzedaqah to eternal life, I simply believed the salvation doctrine I heard at my church – “ we are saved by grace through faith and once saved always saved .” Two Bible verses were used to prove that doctrine was the word of God:   ● “ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” ( Ephesians 2:8-9 )   ● “ Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”   ( Romans 3:28 )   Something you have probably heard me say before is worth repeating here – words taken out of context can be used to prove anything . When we read a couple of chapters later in Ephesians, we find this:   ● Ephesians 5:4-5 – “. . . no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God .”   In that context, people committing th...