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Dr TK Dunn on the Importance of the Old Testament
This is an extract from a longer interview, which I will also embed. I think Dr. Dunn has some valuable comments on the relationship of scripture and what it means for our study. And here’s the full interview from which that was extracted.
Fences: Mending or Rending
The following is a sermon I presented at the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Pensacola on September 11,2005 and originally posted here on September 13, 2005. I’m reposting it because when I went to look for it, I found that the original post had somehow been truncated, and also because there is a one word at a…
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Hebrews 1:1-4: Jesus and the Word
We now start on the meat of Hebrews 1:1-4. I will refer back to this verse a number of times and expand on comments I make in this entry, but I want to provide a fairly clear, point by point summary of what we can learn from these verses. Introductory Notes Let me display the…
Does Integrity make you a Wuss?
DaveScot over on Uncommon Descent thinks that having integrity and good judgment makes one a wuss. Of course, unless he also has the guts and integrity already displayed by the folks over on Telic Thoughts, he’ll have to come up with something to say, and I suppose this is as good, or as bad as…
Kudos to Telic Thoughts
Telic Thoughts has issued a very forthright statement and retraction regarding certain comments they made about Dr. Eric Pianka. Since I had linked to them as one of my sources in my entry Christians and Defamation, I think it is important that I take note of this retraction and the very good intentions (and may…
Hebrews 1:1-4: Translation Issues
In some passages, I may divide discussing translation issues into one section on how a passage is rendered into English, and another on the textual issues, but this passage has only one textual issue of any consequence. Textual Issues In verse three we have the following general options: “when He had by Himself purged our…
New Bible Study Blog
I’m creating a separate blog as I start to post Bible studies online. Threads from Henry’s Web is a place for me to post general commentary and background information on religion functioning in the world. As I got ready to start blogging through the book of Hebrews, I started to believe that it would be…
Introduction to Hebrews
Many introductions to Hebrews spend a great deal of time on the date, authorship, and audience of the book. I’m not so sure that these questions can be answered with any degree of certainty, so I tend to focus on what we can come to understand from the structure and content, and the theology we…
Welcome!
I’m Henry Neufeld, and I have been blogging on Threads from Henry’s Web since September, 19952005. This new blog is specifically for me to follow my heart which is in critical and exegetical Bible study that leads to exposition and application. I’m the author of two study guides, To the Hebrews: A Participatory Study Guide,…
Escambia County Wins in Court
In an article titled Park could face extinction, the Pensacola News Journal says that Escambia County officials have closed Kent Hovind’s Dinosaur Adventure Land because of their failure to follow county ordinances. County commission chairman Mike Whitehead was justifiably unsympathetic. The argument being used by Hovind and his ministry is one that is completely invalid,…
Home and Church Education
As intelligent design (ID) propnents complain about censorship and freedom of speech, one thing is being ignored: They are getting their message out to the public, and any scientist who wishes to examine their data, should they care to provide some, can acquire the material should they desire to do so. In addition, high school…
Another Note on Deuteronomy 32:43
In my previous post on this passage I stated that I was ignoring one textual issue that was really quite minor, but on thinking about it, it seems to me that it will illustrate one of the points that makes textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible different. We have relatively few Hebrew manuscripts, and most…
Textual Issue: Deuteronomy 32:43
Previously I listed a couple of doubtful translation choices in the Hebrew Bible and gave my preferences on them. Here are a couple more that I regard as much more certain. I also gave an extremely brief introduction to textual criticism in Textual Criticism – Briefly. Praise, oh heavens, his people*, Worship him, all you…
The Danger of False Assumptions
Every so often it’s fun to look through an ICR document or so. It’s so nostalgic, considering that this was the sort of stuff that I found very convincing when I was young. I would like to emphasize that this is not by any means the definition of Christianity. It’s just some of the noisiest….
Consider the Alternatives
Is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition some kind of exploitation? This seems to be the best thing some in the media could think of to ask of this positive reality show. I don’t like reality shows in general, but I do like this one. Joe Scarborough interviews Melissa Caldwell of the Parent’s Television Council on his…
Christians and Defamation
One who covers up hatred by lying, And one who spreads defamation is stupid. — Proverbs 10:18 (my translation, but try any version you like) I’m often interested in the portions of the Bible that some Christians think they must follow, and what portions many Christians think they can avoid. For example, right now many…
Zimmer: The Sixty-Million-Year Virus
I only do this every few weeks, but I wanted to make sure that “Threads” readers noticed this wonderful article on The Loom. (Hat tip to Dispatches from the Culture Wars, where I saw it first.) I really don’t have anything to add on this one, but I do challenge young earth/old earth creationists to…
Some of my Best Friends are Atheists
. . . but I wouldn’t want my daughter to marry one. You can replace “atheists” with any of a number of groups, and that’s a saying that underlines a manipulative approach to human relationships. There’s exploitation on the one hand because such friendships are often solely for the purpose of getting something out of…
Genre and Canonical Criticism
Continuing my discussion of Biblical criticism and the tools that make up that method, let’s look at genre and canonical criticism together. I do that, because they look generally at the same point in the production of the text as we have it, but look in different ways at that point in time. We have…
God is Creator of Everything
In a previous post in my series on Christian view on origins, Biblical Doctrine of Creation, I listed six elements of a Biblical doctrine of creation. I need to specify this more precisely as a Biblical doctrine of creation based on the Christian Bible and on one or another Christian approach to Biblical interpretation. Excursus…
AAAS on Hana and Francisco Ayala
The AAAS web site has a wonderful profile of Hana and Francisco Ayala, along with an interview with both on video. Dr. Francisco Ayala states that ID is not science, but it is also very bad theology. He calls evolution the unifying principle of biology, and calls intelligent design “blasphemy.” This is worthwhile listening for…
Darksyde on Bill Dembski
There’s a new post on The Daily Kos, Know Your Creationists: Bill Dembski, that readers may find interesting. It provides some background, and there are some links to some work on the math in the comments. I appreciate those mathematicians who have deconstructed Dembski’s math. When I first read something by him, it occurred to…
Good Theology, Bad Theology, and Demons
I have frequently commented that intelligent design (ID) is bad theology. Equally often, I am challenged by someone who will point out that ID may be bad theology from my point of view, while it might be good theology from someone else’s point of view. This is a very valid objection to what I have…
Book: Who’s Afraid of the Old Testament God?
In several recent posts, especially dealing with issues of harsh passages in Hebrew scriptures (or the Old Testament), I have referred to a book, Who’s Afraid of the Old Testament God? by Dr. Alden Thompson. This book was critical as I developed my own view of scripture and especially as I dealt with some of…
New Categories
I dislike multiplying categories, but in trying to sort through the amount of material I have on this site, and in looking ahead at what I have planned, I think it will be too hard to find any of the older posts without some more detailed categories. I will try to go through all the…
John Webb Winter Golf Tournament 2006
This is another short “pride in my stepson” post. Each year since before our son James passed away, his older brother John, now a pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals organization (as a starter with the AAA Memphis Redbirds this year), has sponsored and participated in a golf tournament to raise money for the children…