Results 1 - 20 of 294
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: Just Read Mark Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Lying justified? | Josh 2:5 | Just Read Mark | 225021 | ||
Could you check that against James 2:25? | ||||||
2 | who did jesus send fishing for taxes | Matt 17:24 | Just Read Mark | 225019 | ||
The tax collectors approached Peter, and Jesus sent Peter to find payment in the mouth of a fish. Deacon, it's a pleasure to find and share answers like this. But you may find it a blessing to search for this kind of answer using the computer tools. Search for "fish" in the Gospels, for example, and you'd find this one quickly. |
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3 | Lying justified? | Josh 2:5 | Just Read Mark | 225017 | ||
Thanks, Steve. I understand the clarity of God's law-- but in the messiness of life, sometimes its not so clear. This story, for example, seems like performing a lesser evil in order to perform a significant good. Rahab is remembered as a hero for this act. She is listed in the list of Gentiles who have done great things for Israel. She enters Jesus' family tree (Matt 1:5) and is praised for this act (James 2:25). Is that not condoning her decision to lie? | ||||||
4 | 2 people Dalila paid 2 know sampson st | Judg 16:5 | Just Read Mark | 225016 | ||
As I understand the tale, Delilah was PAID money by others. It was her intimate relationship with Samson that caused him to reveal the secret of his strength. I don't know how many people paid her; the text just says "the lords of the Philistines." |
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5 | Claiming victory too soon? | Josh 21:43 | Just Read Mark | 208800 | ||
Hi Doc. I do not question the faithfulness of God to fulfill the promises, and I understand that tension is caused by the fickleness of the tribes. But here is the question: would it not have been more honest of Joshua to say something like "look how faithful God has been --- and see that the whole of the promised land is within our grasp if we continue! Take courage, be faithful, so that we may see God's promises fulfilled!" That would be much more in keeping with Calvin's interpretation, but is strikingly different from Joshua's actual speach: "Not one of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass." (22:45) What truth or merit did Joshua have in this statement? I am beginning to wonder if it is the hubris of an aging general... | ||||||
6 | Lying justified? | Josh 2:5 | Just Read Mark | 208737 | ||
Was it morally acceptable for Rahab to lie, to save the lives of the Israelite spies? (I think of so many instances of people hiding others from those who intend violence... Nazi germany, Rwanda...) | ||||||
7 | Claiming victory too soon? | Josh 21:43 | Just Read Mark | 208718 | ||
Reading Joshua more closely than I have before, I find it hard to interpret what is going on. Why does this verse claim a total victory? Verses like Joshua 15:63, 16:10, 17:12-18 all show the tribes failing to take their inheritance. Even after the current verse 21:43, where victory is declared, we have Joshua instructing the tribes to take their inheritance. (23:4, Judges 2:6) We often celebrate God's fulfilled promises... what are we to make of promises that are claimed to be fulfilled, when the text itself is clear that they are not? |
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8 | Hebrew and Greek Old Testament | Not Specified | Just Read Mark | 200923 | ||
I understand that Jews, keeping the faith in cultures all around the Mediterranean, translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. They did this about 250 years before Christ. This translation -- the Septuagint -- was the version most known in the early church. Some verses have discrepancies between the Hebrew and the Septuagint, and these discrepancies are carried over into the New Testament. I understand the we are to treat the original manuscripts as authoritative --- what then are we to make of the New Testament's treatment of the Septuagint as authoritative? |
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9 | Hebrew and Greek Old Testament | Bible general Archive 4 | Just Read Mark | 200924 | ||
I understand that Jews, keeping the faith in cultures all around the Mediterranean, translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. They did this about 250 years before Christ. This translation -- the Septuagint -- was the version most known in the early church. Some verses have discrepancies between the Hebrew and the Septuagint, and these discrepancies are carried over into the New Testament. I understand the we are to treat the original manuscripts as authoritative --- what then are we to make of the New Testament's treatment of the Septuagint as authoritative? |
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10 | "throwing stones" or "making love"? | Eccl 3:5 | Just Read Mark | 196278 | ||
Hi Doc. Thanks for adding some scholarly perspective. Maybe I'll meet Eugene some day, and ask him a few questions. Here's my crazy link between Eugene and the real text: if the "stones" were understood as seeds, as in "the seed of Abraham", then his rendering would be reasonable. Your art discussion topic looks good. Art does not have authority like scripture --- but we do live by story. If Christians back out of the task, people will live by CSI. (Lord, have mercy.) I see part of our world-shaping task (for God gives us responsibility to shape this world, as an echo of His creative power)as an artistic one. One of my favorite verses is when Joseph says "Interpretations belong to the Lord." |
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11 | "throwing stones" or "making love"? | Eccl 3:5 | Just Read Mark | 196208 | ||
a slight correction: "covering his feet" means dropping his paints to relieve himself (not uncovering, as I had said). If you look at 1 Samuel 24:3 you will find that our Bible do not give the "literal" translation --- because it wouldn't make sense in English. The Hebrew is still there in the footnotes. There are many cases of this kind of thing, and I think it is wise to pay attention to them. |
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12 | "throwing stones" or "making love"? | Eccl 3:5 | Just Read Mark | 196206 | ||
Thanks Brad. I've known the translations of this line for many years, so that's why I was surprised at the "make love/abstain" rendering of it. I guess I'm wondering whether the Hebrew phrase would have been understood as a metaphor for sexuality somehow? Similar to how Saul "uncovers his foot" to mean uncovers his genitals to relieve himself... I wish I could ask Eugene what research he had to arrive at his interpretation. | ||||||
13 | "throwing stones" or "making love"? | Eccl 3:5 | Just Read Mark | 196203 | ||
Eugene Peterson's paraphrase, "The Message," treats this verse as follows: "A right time to make love and another to abstain, A right time to embrace and another to part." I usually find his renderings very powerful, and when I find a strange one I usually find it actually reflects scholarship about the texts in question. In this case, however, I don't know what he's referring to. Can anyone shed background on interpretations of this verse? |
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14 | Was Joseph involved in occult practices? | Gen 44:5 | Just Read Mark | 195865 | ||
I was surprised to find Joseph claiming secret knowledge through divination (Genesis 44:5, Genesis 44:15). Perhaps he was “role playing” to further test his brothers? Or had he been influenced by his wife’s family, worshiping the god On? (see Genesis 41:45 and repetitions) |
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15 | Greet no one on the road? | Luke 10:4 | Just Read Mark | 179771 | ||
Why does Jesus instruct his followers not to greet anyone on the road? Isn't this advice rather unlike the "Good Samaritan" story? What does this mean for the mission of the 72, or our mission today? | ||||||
16 | Seems to change in stories? | Mal 3:6 | Just Read Mark | 177015 | ||
Hi Iktoose. Thanks for the response. I think we're agreeing here --- that God did change direction in response to Moses' plea. The character of God is constant. I think sometimes we answer questions quickly (like showing one text where it says God does not change) without delving into the question more deeply. If Rusty goes to his teacher with one verse, that will be much less convincing than if Rusty has thought about the passages that are more confusing. I've enjoyed the range of answers. Maybe I like the "childish" elements of how God tells his story --- I believe in living within the STORY of it, from Genesis to Apocalypse. So I try to hold that complexity in my head. Peace. JRM |
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17 | Seems to change in stories? | Mal 3:6 | Just Read Mark | 176990 | ||
I agree, with confidence, that the Lord is "the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow." This is a refrain through scripture, in praise passages or teaching passages. Yes, in narrative passages, we sometimes get another impression. I think of Moses on the mountain, petitioning on behalf of the Israelites, and God yeilding to his request for mercy. Or Abraham having a similar conversation with God about Sodom. Now, was God playing games with these two, or did God's mind change? I can see a consistent principle of character running through both of these, which runs through the whole canon, of just wrath being overcome by compassion... so maybe there isn't a change on the grand scheme but somehow, on the small scheme, God's mind changed? God's heart is shown as very complex --- such as in Hosea 11, wanting to violently purge the people, but having such a tender love that the violence is impossible. Is this an anthropomorphic moment, reading a human father's complexity into the heart of God -- or is God's heart really torn in these ways? Immutably torn? |
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18 | what scripture relates blessings to luck | Matt 5:3 | Just Read Mark | 176873 | ||
Luck is, I'm pretty sure, a pagan concept having more to do with "fate" than "grace". To go for "Lucky are the poor" would be absurd. "Blessed are the poor" sounds absurd to many, but it goes to a deeper truth. Luck is impersonal and capricious. Blessing is personal (ie given by the Living God) and generous. I hope this helps. (Though I'm not sure where it leaves your study....) |
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19 | Authority of Tobit? | OT general | Just Read Mark | 176203 | ||
Ok --- having read and thought about it a bit more, I feel more comfortable phrasing the question the other way around. Why is it included in the Canon for Catholics? | ||||||
20 | Authority of Tobit? | Not Specified | Just Read Mark | 176201 | ||
I just read Tobit. I really enjoyed the narrative power of the tale, and the picture of family life it presented. I also thought the angel and healings were very cool. Certainly, there are some odd things in there. So here's the question -- Why do protestants no see it as canonical? |
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