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Jesus, Yahweh, And The Power Over The Storm

...counts emphasise His authority to bring peace and order from chaos. Power Over the Sea Other scriptures also affirm Yahweh’s control over the sea. Psalms 89:9 declares: You rule the raging of the sea;when its waves rise, you still them. And in Job 9:8, we read: who alone stretched out the heavensand trampled the waves of the Sea. These verses reinforce the image of Yahweh as the one who commands and calms the sea, highlighting His supreme power over creation. Jesus Calms the Storm: Mark 4:35–41 The New Testament echoes this divine power in the person of Jesus Christ. Mark 4:35–41 narrates an event that is reminiscent of Psalm 107 to anyone famili...

Debunking the Crusades: 5 Myths You Probably Believe

...The Crusades have long been a topic distorted by myth, legend, and misconception, especially in modern pop culture and film. Movies and television often portray the Crusaders as either valiant knights on holy missions or brutal barbarians bent on conquest, feeding into a skewed image of the events. These simplistic portrayals fail to capture the complex motivations and historical realities of the Crusades. The Guardian article about the Reconciliation Walk One striking example of how these misunderstandings have influenced modern perceptions was the so-called Reconciliation Walk in 1999, marking the 900th anniversary of the First Crusade. Hundreds of Chris...

Women should be silent?

...1 Timothy 2:12 - "I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent." Here's an often tricky subject, depending on who you speak to about it. Before I begin, it should be noted here that these words ("woman" and "man") could also be translated as "wife" and "husband", which then changes the thrust of this command quite drastically. This verse, and others similar, are often taken by people to mean that it only applies in a church setting (ignoring the fact that we are the Church - 1 Cor 12:27; Rom 12:5). A little while ago when discussing this topic, an argument was put forth about the 'Woman at the Well' preaching to other...

Did the Qumran community predict the coming of Jesus?

...I'm going to start a new category here for "General Interest" which will be for things I see or read about that I think are interesting or informative about the Bible, Christianity or the Faith in general; but which aren't necessarily topics I could, or would need to, write a full blog post about. I'll kick off this new venture with an brief look at something I read the other day from the Dead Sea scrolls which is very interesting – Qumran text 4Q521. It gives us a glimpse of early Jewish expectations of the coming Messiah from the time before Jesus arrived, and shows just how Jesus did actually meet those expectations. For example, when John asks his disci...

Lent: Day 2 - Mathetes to Diognetus, pt. 1

...Day two: Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus: Chaps. 1-6 Who: Anonymous author, “mathetes” is not a name, but is the Greek word for “a disciple” What: possibly one of the earliest examples of a Christian apologetic defending the faith from its accusers, written to someone interested in learning more about the faith and its customs Why: The Christian faith was under attack and ridicule in the early centuries, many things about the Church were misunderstood and so various Christians took to writing apologetic's (defences) to clarify doctrines and beliefs from being maligned. When: Estimated between AD 130 and late 2nd century I've only ever come acros...

Lent: Day 6 - Ignatius to the Magnesians

...ius is emphasising obeying the bishop and presbyters so much— they are essentially the representation of God and the Apostles to the congregation! Look at how Ignatius puts it: …your bishop presides in the place of God, and your presbyters in the place of the assembly of the apostles, along with your deacons, who are most dear to me, and are entrusted with the ministry of Jesus Christ That's some high standards to live up to! It's no wonder the qualifications for these positions were strict if this was the thinking behind them even when Paul first penned his letters to Timothy and Titus (1 Tim 3:1-7; 8-13; Tit 1:5-9). But it's also because of this tha...