How the Bible Self-Testifies to its own Divine Origins
Although there are multiple human authors of Hebrew scripture1 (the Torah+Tanakh, or Old Testament) they are secondary to God. Only humans write, so everything that ever has been written was penned by human authors. This includes all the books of the Bible (Tanakh + New Testament), the Talmud, the Hindu Vedas, the Bhagavad Gita, the Qur’an, and every other purported holy book. According to its own witness, the primary author of biblical Scripture is always God himself. In its multiple genres, all the scriptures of the Tanakh are regarded within itself as divine revelation and recorded as Holy Scripture, the LORD’s words and thoughts.
[1] …as there must surely also be for the Qur’an.
Jonah's Story Was A Central Motif in Jesus's Preaching
“[L]et us consider which is harder, for a man after having been buried to rise again from the earth, or for a man in the belly of a whale…to escape corruption.”
St. Cyril of Jerusalem,
Catechetical Lecture 14.18 [1]
Jonah Ίωνας
The Jewish Tanakh, or the Hebrew scriptures of the revelation library that is the Old Testament of the Bible, contains the full writings of all the writing prophets. This includes the entire book of Prophet Jonah (4 chapters). Jonah is also importantly referred to in the New Testament by Jesus himself, as recorded seven times in two of the four gospels: three times in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 12, once in verse 16:4, and three times in the Gospel of Luke chapter 11. In both gospels Jesus is asserting that he himself is greater than both Jonah and Solomon, and that is all the more reason why his audiences should repent. So much so that if they did not, then both the Queen of Sheba and the Ninevites will rise up at the time of the final divine judgment to condemn them. Very strong words. But where did Jesus get off claiming to be greater than both prophet Jonah and King Solomon? Where indeed? Clearly Jesus believed he was the greatest of the prophets, and more than a prophet, the one-and-only Messiah, and rightful King of Israel (even though he never sought political power). If he was not then it
How Jesus was so attractive to children
Based on the gospels and epistles, Jesus and his Apostles usually engaged with adults and families, not children only. He didn’t seem to call children to him specifically, but rather their parents and their whole families. But he certainly attracted and welcomed the children! And no doubt among the throngs of sick that came to him, many parents brought their children to him for healing. When I read the gospel narratives such as the examples below, in some situations I get the impression that it was the children he had in his sights the most, just by being in public places where they could see him and dare come to him. Anyone can understand why a figure like Jesus was very attractive to children. 1) He performed miracles at-will, hundreds daily. There were days when everyone who needed healing went away healed. Who could not be attracted and amazed? 2) Jesus was ‘magnetically’ approachable to everyone except the Pharisees and scribes who were self-righteous hypocrites. This included rich and poor, men and women, the well and the sick—even those with leprosy who were utterly untouchable and forced out of community. Also included were ethnic minorities such as the ruling Romans and the despised Samaritans, adults of all ages, and children. This degree of approachability was unheard of in Jewish society, especially for a religious teacher considered by thousands as a rabbi, a prophet, and even as the Messiah. At that time and for centuries later in the Middle East, for a figure with this kind of profile it was unthinkable to allow the marginalized to approach him, especially lepers, women, and children.
How the Trial of Job Forms a Master Motif Akin to Other Great Life Motifs
So I've been writing a book on the prophet Job lately. I had a good day of writing today, and I feel pretty good about it. Here it is.
The Book of Job has been enormously influential on our culture to this day. Its writing is like historical documentary in parts (1-2, 42) but vastly different in the rest which is poetry (3-41). In my analysis, there is a strong case for its historical veracity, and I believe it. But I don’t think that is its main intent, so I don’t think it matters much. It is non-essential. I think the main intent of Job is to teach us certain theological truths and to give us the “Job motif” which I will develop further in this chapter (12). As I have said, it is both a redeemer motif and a messiah motif. In the Tanakh this is a ‘meta-motif’, and it is one of the main purposes of all Hebrew scripture and the revelation it embodies to progressively develop this motif. In the early chapters of this book we talked a lot about the details of Job's story and his ordeal for which he is forever famous. I have talked extensively about specific ‘micro-motifs’ in the Book of Job. Now I want to talk about the Prophet Job himself and his story as Motif with a capital ‘M’—a ‘macro-motif’. Message me if you're particularly interested.
Why Zeinab got it wrong in her critical post of June 1
*This intro part of the article was posted verbatim in my Facebook page on the same day that this was posted here.
I am a 24-year resident of East Dearborn and have frequented Hemlock Park many times for many reasons. On June 1st a young woman named Zeinab Chami posted in Facebook the following criticisms about our exceptionally civil open-air event at Hemlock Park the night before, Memorial Day. I was present among several dozen Christians from probably 10-12 churches. That event featured a main speaker, Georges Houssney, who spoke for about 30 minutes, followed by Q&A. We also had a book table set up on the lawn stocked with religious books. Both the event and the books were intended for adults, but at the very start four children approached the book table and were observed by Zeinab. One of our partners also observed this and explained to them that there were no items for kids and that the entire event was intended for adults only. The children asked repeatedly but were told no unless they had a parent with them. When Zeinab approached, they left. However, Zeinab either did not observe that exchange or did not believe it because she immediately began making a scene that attracted a sizable crowd. In short, Zeinab accused us of 'preying on children' in the park by attracting them to our event, which was false. The next day she made the following post reiterating her false narrative. Since she and I are not Facebook friends, I only became aware of it because one of her friends tagged me. I would like to have responded in order to provide clarity and perspective, but I was not enabled to make comments, and so I was voiceless. When I became aware of Zeinab’s false and unflattering words, I immediately private-messaged her with these short messages:
You sent June 1 at 12:38 PM
Zeinab, please activate my ability to comment so I can add clarity to this.
Main Point: Contrary to the spin, we do not want children at Hemlock. We have nothing for them. If they come we send them away. We wish they would stay away.
To her credit, Zeinab attempted to allow me to comment, as some of her friends suggested she do, but that never became possible because we did not become FB friends. In one comment she said she was patiently waiting for a comment from me, but I could not. There were many comments from her friends, most were very critical of me, but some were favorable.
&am