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Showing posts with the label Academics

Flood and Exodus as Creation Accounts (Genesis 6-9 and Exodus 13:17-15:21)

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 in the Old Testament

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

Historical Challenges of the Ancestral Narratives

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...

Prophetic Tradition in Qumran

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 Revival in the Khassia Hills, 1905

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...

The Old Testament Theology of Walter Christian Kaiser, Jr.

  Introduction This article will discuss the overarching understanding of Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.’s Old Testament [1] theology. In doing so, it discusses the standpoint which made Kaiser propose an alternative methodology different from his predecessors. It also investigates the overview of Kaiser’s methodology for OT theology and briefly examines Kaiser’s understanding of the “centre” in OT theology. Ultimately, it critiques and evaluates Kaiser’s methodology of various scholars. In doing so, we start by looking at who Kaiser is. 1. Biography Walter Christian Kaiser, Jr. is a prominent academic specializing in OT studies within the American evangelical tradition. Kaiser was born on April 11, 1933, in Folcroft, Pennsylvania. According to Kaiser’s assessment, his fascination with the OT was initially ignited during a biology class in high school, wherein the Genesis narrative was resolutely discredited. His scholarly pursuit of OT started at Wheaton College, and he pursued post...