Anti-Semitic Bible Study

| February 1, 2013

I often get asked about the “true pronunciation of the divine name” or “the authentic meaning of YHWH, the Tetragrammaton.” I’ve often wondered why people care — why is it that they can’t be content with the scholarly convention of “Yahweh” in this regard, especially if they aren’t scholars, the people who typically argue about [...]

ETS-SBL Musings: Imprecatory Prayer

| November 21, 2012

Just got back from the week of conferences. A tough trip getting there (15 hours due to flight delays and three flight legs . . . I have a history of hard travel experiences). But easy coming back, thankfully. One of the papers I attended was on the theology of imprecatory prayers (specifically, it was [...]

Can Unbelievers Ever Please God? Part 2

| October 5, 2012

While I won’t repeat what I said in Part 1, the comments to that post have left me thinking that some readers still don’t understand what I’m saying and not saying – and so are missing the point of the question. So, by way of review … What I’m Not Saying and Not Asking I’m [...]

Mike’s Divine Council Book First Draft Now Completed

| January 2, 2012

Many of you know that I’ve been working (puttering is more accurate) on a book for non-specialists (i.e., lay people and pastors, not the academy) on what I refer to as the divine council worldview fo the Bible. It’s entitled The Myth That Is True. I’ve been at it for years. The day has finally [...]

Did the Religion of the Biblical Writers Evolve from Polytheism to Monotheism? A Paper and Response to Thom Stark

| November 27, 2011

[Note: For other posts on Mike's work on the divine council, click here for the archive.] Here is my second ETS paper, entitled, “Does Divine Plurality in the Hebrew Bible Demonstrate an Evolution from Polytheism to Monotheism?” My answer is “no, and the question is somewhat misguided.” The paper was an invited one; it was [...]


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