When reading Noah’s flood story and the Exodus account, our simplemindedness will only look at these narratives merely as the manifestation of God’s anger on humanity in the story of the flood and God’s triumph over Pharoah and the Egyptians to free the Israelites. Rarely will one look at these narratives as accounts with overtones parallel to the creation account (Genesis 1, 2). Furthermore, very rarely will we see that they also have ecological concerns embedded in them. Therefore, this paper will investigate the flood narrative and the Exodus account as parallels to the first creation account in Genesis only in part because it will only emphasize parallels that explicitly relate more to the ecological concerns embedded in the narratives. It will also reiterate the reason for an ecological crisis in the creation accounts in relation to modern-day context. It will also try to bring some implications for today’s context. In doing so, it will proceed first with Israel’s understanding of...

Secular literary forms and theories have been applied widely to the Old Testament in the recent past because they have unearthed new interpretations and insights from the Bible. More importantly, they have made the Bible relevant to today’s context. Even though they have their pros and cons, nonetheless, they have opened new doors in the study of the Hebrew Bible. Therefore, this paper will present a brief overview of some prominent secular literary forms and theories applied in the Old Testament. It will also discuss the scholarly views on using such literary forms and theories. Ultimately, it will critically evaluate briefly the applications of such forms and theories on the scripture. Therefore, we begin with what secular literary forms are. For the rest of the paper, please visit the following link: https://www.academia.edu/124327261/Secular_Literary_Forms_and_Theories_in_the_Old_Testament

Tracing the history of the Israelite’s ancestors is challenging and complex because there is no direct or extra-biblical evidence to substantiate that they exist. However, though historical challenges are embedded in the ancestral narratives, which poses a problem, that does not mean that the ancestors are un-historical. Therefore, this paper will present the various challenges involved in reinterpreting the ancestral narratives and intends to show some historicity in them. In doing so, it will briefly look at the overview of the ancestral narratives, the second section deals with the sources that will be used to investigate the narratives, the third section deals with the historical issues that pose a challenge to the historicity of the ancestors and the fourth section deals with the Ancient West Asian1 parallels. Ultimately, it will give an evaluation of the narratives. For the rest of the paper please visit the following link:  https://www.academia.edu/124322087/Topic_Historical...

The issue of prophecy in the Dead Sea Scrolls has attracted scholarly attention for quite some time. The reasons for this are apparent. The scribes who wrote the Scrolls were deeply involved with the interpretation of Hebrew prophetic scriptures, even creating exegetical literature of a new kind, the pesharim. Until the turn of the twenty-first century, it seems less attention has been given to studying the prophetic tradition.1 However, scholars have been curious about Qumran’s prophetic tradition. Therefore, this paper tries to understand the prophetic tradition at Qumran by looking at the Prophetic Vocabulary in the Dead Sea Scrolls, how prophecy is understood in the scrolls regarding the past and the future and then emphasizing the ongoing prophetic activity. Ultimately, it will give relevance to the present context of prophetic activity. For the rest of the paper, please visit Academia.edu through the following link: https://www.academia.edu/124327390/Prophetic_Tradition_in_Qumran

The following report about the revival in the Khasi hills in 1905 was retrieved from the archive (through a reel) of the United Theological College Library . The reporter/contributor is not mentioned in the article. The article is quoted as it is in this blog. Thanks to Rev. Dr. B. L. Nongbri for referring me to this article. The Revival in the Khassia Hills (Christian Patriot, 29 th April 1905, p. 3) The Revival is spreading and deepening also in the Khassia and Jaintia Hills, and as the excitement passes away, the true work of the Spirit can be better judged. There is a deep feeling of devotion, a warmer love towards God and man manifested, a longing desire for a holier life and a striving after holiness, and above all an intense passion for souls and untiring efforts made to bring outsiders to the Saviour. In some parts , the Services are not so powerful as they were, but they are sweeter and perhaps more enjoyable—the joy of salvation is felt. Some wonderful incidents have taken p...

A Church is a place where everyone is welcome. There is neither rich nor poor, sinner nor righteous, big nor small; it is a haven for all. A place to share our love, joys, and sorrow. Ultimately, it is a place that unites the people of God. However, looking from an emic lens, it seems the Church has become a ground for the many wrong things that happen in society. One reason is the power struggle among the believers (especially leaders), which everyone can see. It can be inferred that believers seem to think that the Church is theirs to claim. Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew 16:18 mentioned who is the supreme owner of the Church when he said, “And I tell you, you are Peter ( Petros in Greek), and on this rock ( Petra in Greek) I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” The verse is crystal clear about who the supreme leader of the Church is.             Let us exegete the critical part of the text a...