Where Todd Wood and Jettboy can have it Out
For fear of a looming thread-jack starting here, I opened this thread. Read more »
Apr
30
Apr
29
Wait, that’s in the Bible?! Israelite Polytheism or Monotheism?
God ['elohim] has taken his place in the divine council ['adat 'el];
in the midst of the gods ['elohim] he holds judgement.
Ps. 82.1 (NRSV)
References to a divine council or heavenly assembly are found frequently throughout the Hebrew Bible [1]. Simply, the divine council is the heavenly royal court over which Yahweh, the God of Israel, presides as heavenly king. The members of this heavenly court or assembly are referred to in the Hebrew Bible by such terms as: bene (ha)’elohim “sons of God” (Gen. 6.2, 4; Deut. 32.8-9; Job 1.6, 2.2, 38.7), ‘elohim “gods” (Ps. 82.1, 6), bene elim “sons of gods” (Ps. 29.1, 89.7), and bene ‘elyon “sons of the Most High” (Ps. 82.6). Moreover, the council itself is referred to by such appellations as the adat ‘el “council/assembly/congregation of ‘El/God” (Ps. 82.1), sod qedoshim rabbah “great council of the holy ones” (Ps. 89.8), sod YHWH “the council of Yahweh” (Jer. 23.18), and sod eloah “council of God” (Job 15.8). Read more »
Apr
29
Online Greek and Hebrew Reader’s Editions
This is too useful to get lost in the sidebar. A new site is up that offers useful online functionality. It’s essentially a configurable Reader’s Edition, with color-coding morphology (“make all verbs red”) and glosses. These are very useful things for beginners, reviewing, or just not where your resources are.
Check it out here.
Hat tip: MGVH
Apr
29
New Improved FPR
Thanks to Logos’ RefTagger, all past, present and future FPR posts now have pop-up Bible links 
Currently it’s set for the KJV, but that may change in the future. Check out one of TYD’s scripture-heavy posts for the new functionality. http://www.faithpromotingrumor.com/2009/04/el-shaddai/
Clicking on the “more” button on a pop-up will take you to a full-text page of the Bible, which also lets you change to a variety of translation. Enjoy.
Apr
26
Wait, that’s (not) in the Bible?! Satan and Evil
In much of the modern Judeo-Christian tradition, including LDS Christianity, Satan is seen as the personification of evil, a being who purposely defies God and attempts to thwart his plans for the world.[1] Because Satan is such a prominent figure in especially the Christian tradition, it is quite shocking that the notion of this archenemy to God is not really found anywhere in the Hebrew Bible, and doesn’t clearly appear until the intertestamental period (i.e., the period between the writing of the Old and New Testaments).
Apr
25
Wait, that’s (not) in the Bible?! God’s Omniscience
There is an interesting tradition found in many biblical texts that affirms that Yahweh, the God of Israel, genuinely consults with others and considers their voice despite the fact that he is eminently more powerful and knowledgeable than they. This is especially evident in those texts where Yahweh reasons or dialogues with a prophet and, at times, even changes his intended course of action after hearing their argument(s) and opinion(s). As one example, consider Exodus 32.7-14 (NRSV) which records a dialogue between Yahweh and Moses after the people of Israel–whom Yahweh had just powerfully delivered from the land of Egypt–worshiped and offered sacrifices to a golden calf: Read more »
Apr
17
A Feminist Response to Valerie Hudson
Valerie Hudson Cassler’s recent defense of heterosexual-only marriage offers a heteronormative account of human relationships that pits (heterosexual) women against homosexuals, where “the possibility of human freedom and peace” hang in the balance.[1] However, Hudson’s article suffers from the typical problems of heteronormative feminism, which as been critiqued since the 1980’s in American feminist circles,[2] not only because it denies the label of “woman” to the lesbian, but also because it restricts the possibility of women’s freedom as lying exclusively in the realm of heterosexual, reproductive relationships.
I would like to examine Hudson’s claims on alternative feminist grounds, critiquing not only her implicit gender essentialism which imagines women’s freedom as only possible within reproductive relationships, but her impoverished view of “gender equality.” Further, I intend to examine Hudson’s statist view of marriage which conceives of state power over marriage having the explicit goal of encouraging marriages which it deems to be in its interest.
Read more »
Apr
15
El Shaddai
This important title, often found in connection with name ‘El, is found in several biblical passages in reference to Israel’s God (e.g., Gen.17.1; 28.3; 35.11;49.25; Ex. 6.3; Num. 24.4, 16; Ps. 68.15; Job 8.3,5, etc.). [1] ‘El-Shaddai is P’s favored title for God before the revelation of the divine name to Moses. But what is its meaning, and what is its historical derivation? Traditionally, following the LXX (i.e., the Septuagint, or ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), which uses pantokrator, and the Vulgate (a Latin translation of the Bible by St. Jerome), which uses omnipotens, the term has often been rendered in English translation as “Almighty,” but it is now generally considered that this interpretation is fallacious, and possibly stems from a similar sounding Hebrew root $-d-d, meaning “to destroy.” Some modern scholars have suggested several other possibilities, such as connecting it with the Hebrew word $ad, meaning breast. However, since ‘El-Shaddai was a male diety, this seems somewhat unlikely. Another suggestion is that it is related to the Hebrew word sadeh, meaning “field.” However, this root uses a different sibilant (sin) in its root than does Shaddai (shin).
Apr
14
What is Biblical Monotheism?
I have collected here a few interesting quotes from evangelical scholar Larry Hurtado concerning “monotheism” in Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. What are your thoughts?
—–
“Jewish monotheism can be taken as constituting a distinctive version of the commonly-attested belief structure described by Nilsson as involving a “high god” who presides over other deities. The God of Israel presides over a court of heavenly beings who are likened to him (as is reflected in, e.g., the OT term for them “sons of God”). In pagan versions, too, the high god can be described as father and source of the other divine beings, and as utterly superior to them. In this sense, Jewish (and Christian) monotheism, whatever its distinctives, shows its historical links with the larger religious environment of the ancient world.” [1]
Apr
10
Jesus in Hell!
At the end of Good Friday, we’d like to commemorate Christ’s descent into hell. Christ’s descensus ad inferno has a long history in Christian tradition. In Mormon terms, this is related to Christ’s “visit” to Spirit Prison. This tradition, and particularly the Mormon version, have an important theological message about Christ’s nature.
Read more »
Apr
9
Creation in Genesis 1-3 (Part 7-Summary and Conclusion)
This concludes my analysis of creation in Genesis 1-3, although there is certainly more that I believe could be said. I have attempted to analyze what I perceive to be the most relevant literary, grammatical, and historical-cultural data that pertain to the text in question; and, inasmuch as one can determine the original meaning of any ancient text, it is clear in my judgment that Genesis 1 precludes the notion that the cosmos were created ex nihilo. Rather, it both assumes and argues for a position contrary to such a notion.
I will now briefly recount the most important arguments that I believe have lead to this conclusion. For purposes of conciseness I will assume that the reader has read the preceding series of posts, and so I will use any technical terminology used previously without further clarification. Of course, such a summary cannot do justice to the depth, scope, and interrelatedness of the treatment(s) given previously, and so I refer readers to those sections for more explanation and detail as necessary.
Apr
8
That Same Sociality
I just found this old post that I never published. Can’t remember why.
For some reason, Mormons often cling to the old creeds of eternal, objective truth. Perhaps they are wary of the “boogey-men” of relativism. This makes no sense to me because Mormonism arose out of an intellectual environment that was questioning these very foundations of eternal truth. In the end, Mormonism becomes the ultimate example of a religion without any eternal, objective truths because the eternities are the participation in a culture.
Read more »
Apr
8
Creation in Genesis 1-3 (Part 6-Ancient Near Eastern Context)
Another issue worthy of consideration in our discussion is found in verse two of chapter one, which states that the earth was a “formless waste” (tohu wa–wohu). In the King James Version (KJV) it is translated as “formless and void”. What does this phrase mean? It may first be noted that wohu never occurs alone in the bible, but always in conjunction with tohu. This is because the nouns tohu and wohu are used together in hendiadys [1] (hence the better translation “formless waste,” as found in several recent scholarly translations, rather than as two separate translations as in the KJV). Together they denote a shapeless, chaotic substance without form or structure, and, as virtually all biblical scholars agree, do not refer to absolute nothing (as precluded by the translation “formless”, which implies that a substance already exists, albeit in a disorganized or chaotic state). Read more »
Apr
6
Reading Elder Holland’s Dissertation
I knew that Elder Holland graduated from Yale with a PhD in American Studies, but it never occurred to me until General Conference (while I was watching him speak), that it might be available online via ProQuest (UMI’s Microfilm initiative). Most university libraries, by the way, have subscriptions that will let you download the dissertation for free. Read more »
Apr
6
Creation in Genesis 1-3 (Part 5-Verb Semantics)
The verb translated in verse one as “create” is b-r-’ (which, as vocalized, is 3rd masculine singular, perfect active, in the Pa’al/Qal conjugation). [1] Some commentators who have wished to read the Genesis account(s) as describing creatio ex nihilo have, at times, placed particular emphasis on the fact that this verb is apparently used only when God is its subject. They therefore suggest that it may have a special creative meaning that could perhaps lend credence to the idea that creatio ex nihilo is what is being described. Although it is true that humans are never used as the subject of this verb in the Pa’al conjugation (although this root is predicated of humans in the Pi’el), nevertheless, regardless of whether humans could theoretically ever be the subject of the verb b-r-‘ in the Pa’al conjugation in ancient Israel, the attested contextual usages of this verb simply vitiate the position that creative acts with this verb are somehow categorically different than those used with other common Hebrew verbs that mean to create (such as y-ts-r [“to form” or “fashion”] or ’-s-h, [“to make”], both of which are used throughout the J account [remember, the verb bara’ doesn’t occur in J]).
Read more »
Apr
5
What, if anything, do GAs read?
This most recent conference struck me in an interesting way. I found myself listening closely for some small sign that the speakers read and engage topics outside of the scriptures and other GA talks. While I didn’t hear every talk this weekend, I found little evidence that they consumed many books or are aware of scholarly or educated discourses on the topics they discussed. Instead, they seem mostly to traffic in anecdotes and offer homespun wisdom. I do not intend to suggest an implicit hierarchy between homespun wisdom and scholarly discourses. I happen to like both.
Read more »
Apr
3
Theologically Challenged
I was struck by something I noticed in Sunday School this past week when the instructor handed around a reprint of the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. Read more »