Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21
A. Matthew 24. 1-14
We need to clarify the context and text of our Lord’s dramatic prophecy in Mt. 24.2…
Dying & Rising What Again?
It is that time of year again when assorted clowns —some claiming to be scholars—trot out the repeatedly debunked ‘dying and rising Gods/Saviours’ thesis. In 2003 I gave a public lecture in Kingston, Jamaica, which provided, inter alia, a rebuttal of this thesis (see my book Revelations on Ras Tafari, 2008, 81-87). Significantly, I invited…
Reading Ancient Texts Responsibly
Though many (learned and unlearned folk) seem not be aware of it there is an academic version of the biblical “believe not every spirit…” It is “double-check all sources.” I ‘push up’ myself in the company of reputed scholars and join Egyptologist William Dever in asking “How is it that the biblical texts are always…
Quibbling With Tafari
My friend Dr. Ikeal Tafari has written two pieces in your newspaper raising questions on the historical roots of Israel. Unfortunately the main source he seems to be drawing on is Gary Greenberg’s book The Bible Myth: African Origins of the Jewish People. I say unfortunately because Greenberg (whose work I have scrutinised carefully) makes…
Genealogies in the Bible: The Basics
Those who desire to read the Bible responsibly must understand that they are reading an ancient book and not one written according to the conventions of the 21st century AD.
A biblical genealogy is “a list of names indicating the ancestors or descendants of an individual or individuals, or simply a registration of the names of people concerned in some situation…” [New Bible Dictionary, 1962, 456, hereafter NBD].
The names in such a list serve as “public records that document history, establish identity and/or legitimate office…such lists may ascend from the individual, using the formula ‘x the son of y, the son of z…or descend from a common ancestor, using the pattern ‘x was the father of y, y the father of z.” [Archaeological Study Bible, 2005, 1559, hereafter ASB].
It should be known too that genealogies of either kind were not intended to be comprehensive but selective (names could be omitted) and may reflect a biological family tree
Cruel Options for Afrocentrist Critics of Christianity
Those Afrocentrists who assert (often without supporting evidence) that the ancient Hebrews derived their major doctrines from Egypt arising from the Hebrews’ collective presence in Egypt for over 400 years cannot easily go on to raise questions on the reality of the biblical exodus. If an Afrocentrist critic of the Judaeo-Christian faith concedes the presence of Hebrews in Egypt for any extended period then the question arises, did they ever leave en masse?