Where have all the dinosaurs gone?

One theory is that they drowned in the Great Flood, the one avoided by Noah and seven of his family members, along with a boatload (get it?) of birds and animals hand-picked in seven pairs of twos to repopulate the world. Maybe the dinosaurs were too big to be included. Maybe there were just too …

Meanwhile, in Christian scriptures…

I am continuing my push to read my entire Bible in 2016, and now find myself at the tail end of the book of Luke. Unlike some of the minor prophets, this is a book I read — a lot — as a kid, so I’m not finding new surprises so much as reacquainting myself …

The latest in Hebrew scriptures…

…and yes, I’m still slogging my way through what I was taught to call the Old Testament, but which is probably more accurately also known as the Hebrew scriptures. As I type this, I just finished the book of Jonah — which is just a short four chapters, something I didn’t remember from my earlier …

A course correction

So I’m still reading my Bible every day (you, too, Jac?) in an attempt to read the entire thing straight through this year. I made three New Year’s resolutions, and this is the only one I’ve kept. The book of Esther was nice (did you know it took Esther an entire year to learn the ways …

The Chronicles are boring

So I’m reading the entire Bible, straight through this year as one of my New Year’s resolutions — the only one I’ve actually kept so far. And as Jac, who is also reading through, can tell you, I and II Chronicles are not-interesting. I’d forgotten that this is (as far as I can tell, as …

In last week’s reading of the Hebrew scriptures…

…I came across one of my favorite passages, the throw-down between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah — or, more accurately, the throw-down between God, and Baal and Asherah. Baal is a continual annoyance and worse for the early kingdoms, and the Israelites are continually warned away …

In last week’s reading of Hebrew scriptures…

…I nearly gave up. I’m lying, but the Books of Kings so far has been a lot of names of generals and seconds and people who were loyal to David, and people who are loyal now, to Solomon, who is fixing to go off the rails because he married a lot of non-Jews, and they’re …

Writing is a process

And the Samuel Ward translation of the King James Bible is no different. The translation was stumbled upon in Cambridge, and it’s pretty awesome, though it doesn’t include much in the way of miracles. You can read more here. And thanks, Cynical, for the link.

Three big ol’ fake-Christian aphorisms

Read this from Religion News Service. Nowhere in the text does it say: Everything happens for a reason. God won’t give you more than you can handle. Hate the sin, love the sinner. About that last one, from the link: Instead of loving others because you perceive them to be sinners, perhaps you should focus …

In last week’s reading of the Hebrew scriptures…

As I slog through (and that’s what it often is, a slog) the entire Bible this year, I find myself about halfway through the book of Joshua, and am mired in a lot of who-gets-what, as God tells Joshua precisely which tribe gets which tract of land. Given so much time and attention devoted to actually reaching the …