1 Peter 4:12, The Fiery Trial
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.
//In Jewish tradition, driven a great deal by the Old Testament, there were considered to be two eras of note: the current, sinful age, which was spiraling deeper and deeper into chaos, and the coming messianic age, where God would again take an active role in the governance of earth and justice would prevail. Jewish thought was that the righteous were suffering in this age, but in the age to come, the righteous and the unrighteous would trade places. The unrighteous would be the sufferers throughout the age to come.
Between these two ages was to be a period of intense tribulation, sometimes called the “woes of the Messiah.” In today’s verse, the author of 1 Peter is encouraging his audience to stand firm throughout the tribulations they are experiencing, because these tribulations will birth a new age of joy. Thus, when we move on to the next verse, the author promises that when Christ returns and governs the earth with the authority and glory of God, all oppressions would be lifted:
But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
But it makes you wonder: what exactly is the fiery trial that Christians were experiencing, and that this epistle was talking about? When 1 Peter refers to gold being tried in the fire (1:7) does he have something specific in mind?
Possibly. He may be referring to the events of AD 64, when Nero Caesar (the beast of Revelation) persecuted Christians by setting them aflame, using them as torches to light his gardens at night. If so, the language of a “fiery trial” was anything but figurative to his readers; it was disturbingly literal.
1 Peter 1:13, How To Gird Your Loins
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
//Ever wonder how to gird your loins? The phrase makes much more sense in a Biblical setting, where many men wore long robes. They would tuck the robes into their belt, thus “girding up their loins” so they could move freely.
The way the phrase is used here by 1 Peter probably is meant to bring Passover to mind. On the first Passover, God’s people were to be in a state of readiness, prepared to quickly flee from Egypt into the desert. Girding the loins “of your mind,” I would imagine, refers to being ready for the return of Jesus, so that we may quickly flee in the next “exodus,” from the next “Egypt.”
Luke 12:6, God Cares About Sparrows
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.
//When I read verses like this, I begin to wonder if Christians properly revere all that God cares about. The point of verses like today’s is to affirm that God cares about us just like he does the rest of creation. The same point is made a few verses later, about how God carefully tends to the wild flowers:
Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! –Luke 12:27-28
So I wonder: where do we get off thinking humans are the only life on earth that matters to God? Perhaps God’s care for all living things should more strongly affect our moral attitude toward animals? If animals are treated properly on God’s earth, would they be better able to share in glorifying our creator?
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. –Psalm 150:6
Luke 7:39, The Omniscience of the Gospels
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
//It’s interesting to me that all four authors of the Gospels assume an air of omniscience. They know things that a mere eyewitness observer would have no way of knowing. In today’s verse, how could Luke possibly know what this Pharisee was thinking?
There are many examples of this sort of thing in the Gospels. Here are a few more that come to mind, from the book of Matthew, from the simple to the complex:
Then the man got up and went home. –Matthew 9:7
How would Matthew know where the paralytic man went after being healed?
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ –Matthew 27:63
How would Matthew know what was said in this discussion between Pilate and the chief priests?
She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” –Matthew 9:21
This is the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. How would Matthew know what she was thinking?
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” –Matthew 26:39
How would Matthew know what Jesus prayed? Jesus was whisked away immediately afterward to be crucified.
Exodus 29:7, Anointing in the Bible
Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.
//Today’s verse describes how the temple priests were to be anointed. Kings were also anointed. Jesus was anointed. Indeed, the title Christ is the Greek version of the Hebrew Messiah, and both merely mean anointed.
Have you ever noticed how often anointing happens in the Bible? Why is this such a big deal, and who wants oil poured over them?
Answer: It is a gesture of purification, with a practical, sanitary value. It did indeed lift the recipient above his peers to be anointed. Daily village life in these times would have been a bit smelly, before the invention of soap. There was no running water or sewage systems, there were pack animals in the street and animals even in the same house with their owners. Anointing covered the day-to-day smell, masking one’s humanity and lifting him closer to God.
Jeremiah 18:4, Marred in the Potter’s Hands
And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
//Today’s verse is a little parable presented by God as a lesson to Jeremiah. While we often think of the clay as being us as individuals, flawed and in need of remaking by God, this isn’t really what God was saying. God compared the clay vessel to the nation of Israel, not to individuals.
God was saying he would ball up the clay and start over, forming a new Israel. But is a corporate (rather than individual) understanding enough to explain how the vessel could be marred in God’s hands? Isn’t God perfect? How could there be a mar in the shaping of Israel, if God is doing the shaping?
I’m not a potter. But I understand foreign substances can get in the clay, causing imperfections which, when the pot is fired, will cause it to crack. A potter who recognizes this after beginning to throw must remove the foreign substance and start over. But this just doesn’t seem to fit the analogy. Instead, Jeremiah observed a very common routine: the potter begins, doesn’t like the way it is turning out, balls it up, and begins again … perhaps several times on the same vessel.
If Jeremiah is referring to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians as the “starting over point,” then God did indeed ball Israel up and begin anew, after his first attempt was flawed. But this hardly acknowledges an omnipotent God.
1 John 17:14, Paul Contradicts Jesus, part III of III
I have given them Your word;
//In today’s verse, Jesus seems to imply that he reliably passed on to us all we need to know. Yet Paul considerably enhanced the “word,” adding instruction that he obtained in one or more visions of Jesus. Doctrines such as Original Sin, Total Depravity and Unconditional Election stem primarily from Paul’s writings. But would Jesus have thought this way?
For your consideration, here is one last collection of “superficial differences” between Jesus and Paul:
Paul: As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;” –Romans 3:10
Jesus: A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things –Matthew 12:35
Paul: The night is far spent, the day is at hand. (indicating that the day of Jesus’ return was near) –Romans 13:12
Jesus: Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them. –Luke 21:8
Paul: It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. –Romans 9:16
Jesus: Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. –Matthew 7:21
… and because I can’t resist it, my own refutation of “original sin”:
Jesus: Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. –Mark 10:14
1 Corinthians 2:13, Paul Contradicts Jesus, part II of III
And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit.
//Continuing the theme from yesterday, and presenting another verse about Paul’s insistence that his understanding came through supernatural means, let’s highlight a few more “contradictions” between Paul and Jesus. While all of these comparisons are somewhat shallow, the question at hand is whether or not Paul properly preserved the atmosphere Jesus left behind.
Today’s comparisons highlight Paul’s tendency to remove the conditions of our salvation. Jesus set conditions, and Paul negated them.
Jesus: Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. –Matthew 5:7
Paul: Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy –Romans 9:18
Jesus: For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. –Matthew 6:14
Paul: In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace –Ephesians 1:7
Jesus: For by your words you will be justified –Matthew 12:37
Paul: Much more then, having now been justified by His blood –Romans 5:9
Galatians 1:11-12, Paul Contradicts Jesus, part I of III
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
//I’ve been accused many times of reading the Bible superficially; particularly when I point out a discrepancy between the teachings of two Bible writers. Sometimes a supposed “contradiction” in scripture can be from a superficial reading, but sometimes a “superficial” reading highlights a different flavor. My question over the next series of posts is this: Did Paul properly preserve the atmosphere Jesus left behind?
Paul never met Jesus. He never took instruction from anyone who did meet Jesus. The only thing Paul knows of Jesus’ teachings is what was presented to him in visions by Christ. That is what we should understand from today’s passage, written by Paul himself. Do you find that just a little too convenient?
So to kick off this series, let me start with a number of “contradictions” that relate to Paul’s assumed authority. This first batch have to do with an authority figure. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether Paul properly represented Jesus’ teachings:
Paul: for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.. –1 Corinthians 4:15
Jesus: And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. –Matthew 23:9
Paul: And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers –1 Corinthians 12:28
Jesus: But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. –Matthew 23:8
Paul: So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors [shepherds] and teachers –Ephesians 4:11
Jesus: and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.. –John 10:16
Paul: For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ … –1 Corinthians 4:15
Jesus: Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. –Matthew 23:10
Paul: If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? –1 Corinthians 9:11
Jesus: Freely you have received, freely give. –Matthew 10:8
Revelation 13:17: Susan B. Anthony and the Beast
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
//No, this isn’t a “beauty and the beast” post. It’s just the opposite.
Many readers of Revelation, in explaining the ability of the beast to prevent buying and selling unless they carry his mark, point out that a “mark” is a common term for an image struck on a coin. The “mark of the beast” way back in the first century was probably the emperor’s head on all those devilish Roman coins. Such coins, for example, had to be traded for acceptable Jewish currency before they could be brought into the Temple. That is why there were money changers in the courtyard of the Temple in Jesus’ day.
Which brings me to the Susan B. Anthony dollar. When it first came out in 1978, it stirred up quite a controversy among fundamentalist congregations. Evangelist Colin Deal puts it this way:
Will this coin signal the end. … Will it also signal the beginning of a “new order of the ages” as predicted by John (Revelation 13)? Watch for the replacement of the American dollar and its symbolic meaning. Isn’t it odd that this new coin, minted in a God-fearing nation, has the bust of Susan B. Anthony, a renowned atheist and the instigator of the present unrest with women’s liberation?
It turns out that even feminism couldn’t bring the Antichrist out of hiding. Life goes on, even with an atheist “mark of the beast” on our coins.
Genesis 2:7, Easter and the New Eden
[T]he Lord God . . . breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
//If my message from Thursday, about the promise of peace on earth with the birth of our Messiah, seemed out of place for Easter week, let me bring it all together. In fact, let me bring the whole Bible together. Compare the beginning of the Bible with the end; the first age beginning with Adam with the new age inaugurated by the arrival of the Messiah. This comes from the Gospel of John:
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” –John 20:19-21
John opens and closes his gospel with Genesis, a new world. Here, his double emphasis on the gift of peace implies the age of the Messiah. Christ has returned as promised! His age-old greeting, “peace” or “shalom,” was a wish of well-being, but between believers it came to mean the deeper, worldwide peace that God would grant in the age to come. In Ezekiel’s famous dry-bones vision, a picture of the coming general resurrection, God says to the army he revives, I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.
The age of peace has begun. Are we living the Kingdom?
John 19:32-33, Good Friday and the River of Life
The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
//While John’s Gospel has Jesus dying a day or two before Good Friday, today still seems like the most appropriate day to commemorate the death of Christ. Today’s verse has become very special to me in the last year. Here is what I wrote about this verse in my book about John’s Gospel:
Did blood and water really flow from Jesus’ side? Current medical study verifies the possibility. A substance that appears like water could flow from the pericardial sac around the heart. John insists that this really happened! He may have been so startled that it became, for him, another sign.
As with the son of perdition, it’s fascinating to note the “piercing” theme’s progression through the scriptures. Psalm 22:16 tells of the wicked piercing “my” hands and feet. Zechariah 12:10 draws upon this verse, betraying its origin with its awkward first-person wording: “[T]hey shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and mourn for him” (emphasis added). Next, Revelation claims that every eye shall see Jesus when he returns, including “they also who pierced him.” There is, you will note, no reason yet to imagine that anything besides the hands and feet were pierced. But when John tells the story, he changes the piercing from the hands and feet to Jesus’ side! According to Bible scholar Raymond E. Brown, no other source within a hundred years of Jesus’ death mentions the wound in his side! Only John writes of this, and he swears it’s true. I cannot think of a single explanation for this reinterpretation except to say that the pierced side must have truly happened, and the flow of blood and water made an unforgettable impact.
This sign has become so real to me that I took the image as the title of my latest book: The River of Life. From the side of Jesus a river began to flow that day, which continues even into our age. This short little book (only about 80 pages) has found a different publisher, and hopefully will be available soon.
Luke 2:13-14, No Peace On Earth?
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
//This heavenly chorus is celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, which was to inaugurate a new age. An age of worldwide peace.
Somehow, we’ve lost sight of this. More common, today, is to hear in church that God promises no peace on earth until Jesus comes again. Wars and rumors of wars will continue until that glorious day, and there is nothing we can do about it.
But some extremists carry things even further. They actively preach against all who would strive for peace, thinking this is playing right into Satan’s hands. Peacemakers are thought not to be Christlike, but Antichrists! Peace, world preservation, social programs, life improvements through scientific discovery, all these things are satanic, not godly! What a turn of events! Consider this bizarre quotation by Eli Reece, in How Far Can a Premillennialist Pastor Cooperate with Social Service Programs:
Sociology, or social service as generally emphasized is, in its final outworking, a black winged angel of the pit. … Satan would have a reformed world, a beautiful world, a moral world, a world of great achievements. … He would have a universal brotherhood of man, he would eliminate by scientific method every human ill, and expel by human effort every unkindness; he would make all men good by law, education and social uplift; he would have a world without war. … But a premillennialist cannot cooperate with the plans of modern social service for these contemplate many years of gradual improvement through education as its main avenue for cooperation rather than the second coming of Christ.
Leviticus 23:6, The First Passover, Part II of II
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
//Yesterday, I presented a passage from the book of Jubilees that seems to tie the arrival of Abraham and Isaac to the place of Isaac’s sacrifice on the day of the Passover. That same passage continues:
And Abraham went to his young men and they got up and went to Beer-sheba together. And Abraham dwelt by the Well of the Oath. And he named it “the feast of the Lord” according to the seven days during which he went and returned in pace. And thus is it ordained and written in the heavenly tablets concerning Israel and his seed to observe this festival seven days with festal joy.
The only seven-day festival in the first month is, of course, the Passover week, known as the feast of unleavened bread. See today’s verse.
The author of Jubilees seems to be saying that Abraham’s journey was seven days: three to get to the altar, one day (the Sabbath) without travel, and three to return. This seven days relates to the seven days of Passover. Did the first Passover occur several hundred years before we think?
Have a great Passover this year!
Genesis 22:4, The First Passover, Part I of II
Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
//Question: The first Passover happened as the children of Israel escaped from Egypt, right?
Maybe. Maybe not. The patriarchs Abraham and Isaac predate the exodus. Recall that Jesus is our final Passover lamb, and that Isaac, nearly sacrificed by his father Abraham, is considered a typology of Jesus. A foreshadow of what was to come.
The Jewish book of Jubilees provides some details about this event that we don’t have in our Bibles:
And it came to pass in the seventh week, in its first year, in the first month, in that jubilee, on the twelfth of that month, that words came in heaven concerning Abraham that he was faithful in everything which was told him and he loved the Lord and was faithful in all affliction. And Prince Mastema came and he said before God, “Behold, Abraham loves Isaac, his son. And he is more pleased with him that everything. Tell him to offer him as a burnt offering upon the altar.”
If Abraham left early morning on the twelfth for a three-day journey, he arrives at the place of sacrifice on a special day:
In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover. –Leviticus 23:5
The author of Jubilees seems to be saying that Abraham placed Isaac on the altar immediately after his arrival. That means the sacrifice of Isaac (or the substitutionary ram) occurred on what would become Passover day. Coincidence? Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story.
1 Corinthians 7:28-29, the Danger of Celibacy
But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short.
//Today’s words are written by Paul, encouraging the Corinthians to abstain from marriage. Why? Because the return of Christ is just around the corner. The time is too short to bother with things like marriage.
Paul guessed wrong about this, but he’s not the only one. His instruction reminds me of a group we’ve all heard of: the Shakers.
The Shakers were founded in the 18th century as the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (USBCSA). Their belief that the Kingdom of God was at hand led to a self-defeating doctrine: celibacy. Procreation was unnecessary, as the time was short, so the Shakers used celibacy as a central part of their efforts to separate from the sinful world around them. Shakers were not only messianists; they were communitarians.
But would enough conversions be possible to keep the group alive? How do you keep from dying out as a group without procreating? One answer: adoption. This worked well until orphanages were established, and the states began to limit adoption by religious groups. Today, adoption into the Shakers is no longer possible.
As the result, the Shaker population in America has dwindled (to my knowledge) down to three members: Sister June Carpenter, Brother Arnold Hadd, and Sister Frances Carr. Jesus better come back quickly, or there will be no one left to welcome him.
Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? –Luke 18:8
Revelation 22:10, Is Jesus Coming Back?
And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
//I’m sometimes asked what it would take to convince me that Revelation’s prophecies still reside in our future. Am I not impressed by the signs of the times, which seem to keep piling up?
The answer is, I must play the odds. Given that Revelation repeatedly promises everything “quickly,” and that the events of the first century so closely match the events promised in Revelation, what are the odds that that book’s author–be it Jesus, a deluded self-appointed prophet, or someone in between–was talking about it all happening a couple thousand years in the future?
Revelation was addressed personally to seven churches in Asia Minor which no longer exist. It was written to encourage them to stand true in a tribulation that, according to Revelation’s author, he was already sharing with them. If I’m to believe it will all happen again in our future, I’ll probably need to see Jesus return on the clouds.
Genesis 22:5, Did Abraham Think Isaac Would Be Resurrected? Part II of II
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
//Today’s verse refers to the day Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. He tells his traveling companions to wait for him, and promises both he and Isaac will return.
Yesterday, I pointed to a passage in Hebrews that interprets this verse to mean that Abraham expected Isaac to live again after he was killed. But there is another way to read this verse. It hinges on the word worship.
Was Abraham speaking in a vague euphemism when he said he and Isaac were going to go “worship?” Or should we instead read the verse literally? The Hebrew word translated into “worship” means literally “to bow down,” as if to prostrate himself in supplication. Perhaps Abraham meant to beg God to rescind the command to sacrifice his son. So sure was Abraham of God’s compassion that he fully expected to bring Isaac back.
If so, God didn’t back down until Abraham had the knife in his hand, ready to slay his son. Perhaps this event wasn’t so much a test of Abraham’s loyalty to God as his faith in the compassion of God. It was a harrowing test of faith.
Hebrews 11:17-19, Did Abraham Think Isaac Would Be Resurrected? Part I of II
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. –Hebrews 11:17-19
//As Abraham prepared to take Isaac up the mountain to sacrifice him, he told his traveling companions to wait for them. He promised that both he and Isaac would return.
Rashi, an 11th-century commentator, suggests that Abraham prophesied that both would return. It wasn’t hopeful thinking, nor a white lie. Somehow, Abraham knew Isaac wouldn’t die. Or did Abraham think Isaac would be raised up from the dead?
The author of Hebrews reads it that way, as in today’s verse. There is, however, another way to read today’s verse. More tomorrow.
Genesis 23:1, How Old was Isaac When He was Offered as Sacrifice?
And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
//Today’s question is a good one. Since Abraham loaded Isaac with wood to carry, we know he wasn’t a child.
Most artwork pictures him as a teenager. Jewish tradition in the book of Jubilees agrees, saying he was fifteen (Jubilees 17:15-16). Another midrashic calculation makes him twenty-six (Gen. Rab. 56:8). But the most logical calculation, if we follow scripture, is a bit different.
When Genesis chapter 23 opens with today’s verse, it presupposes Sarah’s death, which therefore must have taken place in connection with the events of the previous chapter: the sacrifice of Isaac. The point is that even though Isaac lived, he never saw his mother Sarah again … or she, him. We are led to believe that the heartache of losing her son (or so she imagined must happen) caused her death.
Genesis 17:17 tells us that Sarah was 90 years old when Isaac was born. If she died at age 127, this means Isaac was 37 years old when Abraham took him up the mountain to sacrifice him.
A second version of the above listed midrash confirms this recalculation. It tells how Isaac actually asked to be bound on the altar, for “can one bind a man thirty-seven years old without his consent?”
Fantasy Football, Anyone?
Put on the whole uniform of the Team, that ye may be able to stand against the blitz of oncoming linebackers. Don the hip pads of truth, the shoulder pads of righteousness, the cleats of preparation. Don’t forget the facemask of faith and the helmet of salvation. Then clutch the pigskin with much Spirit, for that is what the Play Book of your Coach in Heaven demands.The River of Life
Twice before Lee Harmon has written about Christian topics, once on the gospel of John and once on the book of Revelation. But the question people keep asking him is this: As a liberal Christian, why do you care so much about the Bible? Others wonder whether he is truly a Christian at all.
The Way It Happened
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| Revelation: A love story gone awry. | The Gospel: A love story set aright. |
What really happened 2,000 years ago? How did a persecuted minority of end-time believers known as Christians, with their dreams of Armageddon and a conquering Messiah named Jesus, evolve into the largest religion in the world? Author Lee Harmon explores the period in which the New Testament was written in his books about John's Gospel and Revelation.
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Lee Harmon interviewed on The God Show about the History Channel's miniseries The Bible and Lee's latest book, John's Gospel: The Way It Happened.
About Lee
Hello! I'm an author, historical Jesus scholar, book reviewer, and liberal Christian, which means I appreciate and attempt to exercise the humanitarian teachings of Jesus without getting hung up on any particular supernatural or religious beliefs.
The Bible is a magnificent book that has inspired and spiritually fed generations for thousands of years, and each new century seems to bring a deeper understanding of life’s purpose. This is true of not only Christianity; through the years, our age-old religions are slowly transforming from superstitious rituals into humanitarian philosophies. In short, we are growing up, and I am thrilled to be riding the wave.
I avidly read all thought-provoking religion titles. New authors: I'd love to read and review your book!
Contact me here.
About Leslie
Hi! While Lee writes the articles and reviews the books, I edit, organize, and maintain the blog. The views expressed here are Lee's but I'm his biggest supporter! :-)
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