Tanakh
The Talmud prohibits any intimate contact with a person with whom one is forbidden to have sexual relations – in the same way and for the same reasons as the Shariah
Being that men are visually stimulated and are wired to their carnal appetites, Talmudic teachings are brutally frank and aware of man’s flaws. Various regulations were taught to prevent sexual improprieties from sullying a person’s holiness and closeness to God…. Read More ›
Divine Plurals in the Bible and the Qur’ān – a response
Denis Giron has produced an article which has stimulated much debate and reflection amongst Christian and Muslim commentators on Blogging Theology. Rather than add to the ever-extending line of comments, and because I wish to cite some academic sources at… Read More ›
Isaiah 52.13 – 53.12: ‘One of the most difficult and contested passages in the Bible’ ~ the Jewish Study Bible
Isaiah 52.13 – 53.12: The servant. One of the most difficult and contested passages in the Bible, these fifteen verses have attracted an enormous amount of attention from ancient, medieval, and modern scholars. In particular the identity of the servant… Read More ›
Why did the Jews of Paul’s day reject the Christian claims about Jesus being the promised messiah? The answer is simple..
To make sense of early Jewish outrage over claims concerning the messiahship of Jesus, we need to cut though many centuries of Christian thinking, mountains of subsequent theological speculation, and masses of Christian “common sense” about how Jesus came as… Read More ›
Considering afresh ‘the Church fathers very clear proof that Jesus was a divine being’
The Revd Canon Professor Richard Burridge is a Church of England priest, biblical scholar and the former Dean of King’s College London. He writes: ‘To modern eyes, it is almost inevitable that theologians of the early Church will appear to… Read More ›
Did you know? The Torah never claims divine origin or Mosaic authorship. The idea developed well after the Torah was written.
For an excellent academic discussion of the issues go here
The Bible and the Qur’an
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Hear O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord, and the Lord your God is to be loved with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Mark 12:28-30 “Which law is… Read More ›
The Messiah
The term “mashiach” in the Torah literally means “the anointed one,” and refers to the ancient practice of anointing kings with oil when they took the throne. The word does not mean “saviour.” The notion of an innocent, divine or… Read More ›
Muhammad owned slaves
Muhammad owned slaves (though he freed them all before he died). Be careful what you disapprove of. The Bible, the Qur’an, Aristotle, Buddhist scriptures, St Augustine, Montesquieu, Kant, Locke and so on all condoned slavery in one form or another. … Read More ›
The text of the Bible: its corruption and uncertainty
Modern translations of the Hebrew Bible are largely based on a single manuscript called Codex Leningradensis, dating to the year 1000 C.E. The text of the Hebrew Bible was preserved and protected through the work of the Masoretes (500 –… Read More ›
The Golden Rule
The most familiar form of the golden rule is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Many people think that Jesus was the first to propound this ethical principle, but in fact it was given a… Read More ›
God is One – not a triune or compound deity
God is ONE, this is the core creed of Monotheism. This oneness of God as an aspect of His absolute nature, must be understood properly in order to worship HIM. Maimonides[1] had laid out a principle to understand the Oneness of God… Read More ›
The daughter of Pharaoh
Photo credit: Stephanie Thornton’s Daughter of the Gods Probably not many of us knew that rabbis such as Rashi presents Hagar, the wife of Patriarch Abraham as: Bath Par’o hayetah בַּת פַּרְעֹה הָיְתָה, or she was the daughter of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. She was an… Read More ›