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Certainly, this is true. But is a gentleman necessarily a lap dog? I say no.

Do you think, perhaps, that Christianity is really 2 religions? One where people accept God as their patron, who blesses them. Another where people accept God as their judge, who curses them. I see both of those in the church. I am not sure these two groups are the same people. They do not...

The problem with the Crusades is that they impressed a bunch of farmers into service as soldiers. Creating an army without proper training or supplies and forcing them to travel across the world creates a situation where those people either die or become criminals. The choices are either (a)...

That's historically inaccurate. The Crusades did NOT stop Muslim expansion into Europe. That was done by the rulers of Hungary and Romania on the Eastern border, and by the Franks in Gaul (Spain).

:Stares vampirically:

Temple Mount in RED. Mount of Olives in BLUE. What's the joke?

The Rider on the White Horse is identified in chapter 19 as the Lord Jesus, and the heavenly host is following Him to the earth: Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war...

The temple isn't on the Mount of Olives. It's across the Kidron valley on the Temple Mount.

You're right. I screwed up a reference. I got Luke 4 right, but then I hit the cross-reference button and trusted the computer. Oof. Here's the bit from the Melchizedek scroll, which actually quotes, as you said, Isaiah 61: [And it will be proclaimed at] the end of days concerning the...

The siege of Masada means some of them definitely did NOT. Some of them could have. Actually, since they were baptizers, I suspect that they were familiar with John and prepped to accept Jesus as the Teacher of Righteousness and/or the second coming of Melchizedek some were expecting. Agreed...

Thank you. I am less a fan of the Masoretic text than this author, as you seem to be as well. The idea of "dividing Scripture" is new to me, but it doesn't seem much different than the issue of adding diacritical marks to enforce a single interpretation. The problem for both: if the original...

It's not false, but it isn't a new development. The Mount of Olives sits near the fault line of the Great Rift Valley, where two continents are moving apart (picture). You've probably seen news in your feed about "Africa is splitting apart" and it's the same story. It's a long fault line...

This is fascinating. I have not heard this before and would like to read more about it. Do you recommend a certain source? It would seem that, whatever their origins, they were installed/endorsed by the Seleucids and were pro-Hellenization. I would like to apply the New Testament rule of...

Say more. Is the "division" you're talking about have to do with grammar or is it more of a categorization (e.g. law, prophets, writings). That doesn't track. Qumran was a community of Baptizers ("Essenes"). They weren't Pharisees, nor were they particularly friendly to Pharisees. You're...

Nickname seems... disrespectful? The practice is probably rooted in the opposite - a reticence to say or write the full name of a deity out of reverence.

Gracious is an odd word to describe... anything of the Old Testament. When the Word of the Lord came to the prophets, they proclaimed impending judgment. Nations were destroyed. More than half of Israel went into perdition, as well as many of the neighboring nations. Righteous, or Holy seem...

Certainly not Greek, and there's no line of course, but Hebrew does use something similar. YH is clearly short for YHVH. EL is clearly short for ELHM. Not just Hebrew, either. All Semitic languages seem to shorten their gods names. NB for Nabuw is pretty well attested in the Bible, despite...

I can't explain it, but it rings true to me. Where the New Testament talks about "fruits" (karpos), it's usually about how a man benefits his community.

Let's say I accept that it was originally Xrhstianos rather than Xristianos. How does that change theology through the rest of the New Testament? Christianos dovetails pretty well into Peter's "holy priesthood" with the idea of anointing. Xrhstos is "good" but it doesn't seem to be the...

I did not! That makes it much clearer. Controversial... not sure I agree. Every nomina sacra is a name... but Chrestos appears to be more of an adjective. Convince me? Also, since we're talking about nomina sacra, I've been looking at them in the OT. Hebrew has a number of them... and...