“Jar uba long uba lah ban shaniah ha iba khyndiat eh, u long uba lah ban shaniah ha kaba shibun ruh...” Lukas 16:10 Baroh ngi kwah ban poi sha kliar ki lum jong ka jingim, hynrei, phewse kiba bun na ngi ngim poi sha kata ka thong. Ngi hap ban kylli jingkylli, balei ka long kumta. Ka jingkylli ia ngi ka long, hato U Blei u lah ne em ban shaniah ia ngi ha ki kam kiba rit tam jong ka jingim? Lada ngi kwah tang ki kam kiba khraw ha ka pyrthei hynrei ia ki kam kiba rit ngi kyntiat, ngi long ki shakri ki bymhok. U Blei um khang ia kiba kwah ban long nongialam, ban don ka spah ka phew, ne kano kano ka bha ha ka jingim, hynrei kadei ban long da ka lynti kaba khuid kaba suba, kaba wanrah burom ia U Blei ha ka imlang ka sahlang. Namarkata, ha ka Bible hi, ka lynti shajrong ka long ban ngin hiar shuwa shapoh, lymda kumta, watla ngi poi sha kliar ki lum jong ka jingim, ngi long kiba suda, namar U Blei um don lem ban ngi hangta. PC: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silhouette-of-mountains-132...

Christmas season is a celebration of the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and a time to ponder and imagine more about how the scripture expresses the message of Christmas. The concept of the word ‘Immanuel’ is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew 1:23, when it says, “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Immanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”” This Immanuel, who is Jesus Christ, is prophesied first in Isaiah 7:14. In both the context of Matthew and Isaiah, it was written when the people of Israel were going through turmoil because of war and foreign domination. In both instances, it gives hope to the people of God because it assures them that God is with them through thick and thin. It is the greatest promise that has ever been fulfilled. Still, he is with us even today through our trials and hardships. However, along with the promise of Immanuel, there is also the promise of ‘Bemanuel,’ which means “God in us”. The promise of Bemanuel is...

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...