What is the origin of sin and death in the Bible? Who was the first sinner? Read more…
Bible Interpretation
Bible interpretation covers the many issues in Bible study and understanding such as the historical-critical method, the documentary hypothesis, the two-source hypothesis, and the fundamental/literal approach.
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The Origin of Sin and Death in the Bible
• 07/12/2017
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Understanding Israel’s 10 Commandments
• 06/14/2017
Are the 10 Commandments really a moral code, or did the ancients understand them rather as the constitutional basis of a political theocracy? Read more…
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Should We Take Creation Stories in Genesis Literally?
• 06/02/2017
Were the creation stories in Genesis meant to be taken literally? Maybe not, says Biblical scholar Shawna Dolansky in her Biblical Views column “The Multiple Truths of Myths” in the Read more…
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How the Serpent Became Satan
• 06/01/2017
The serpent in the Garden of Eden is portrayed as just that: a serpent. The story in Genesis 2–3 contains no hint that he embodies the devil, Satan or any Read more…
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Love Your Neighbor: Only Israelites or Everyone?
• 05/30/2017
The Book of Leviticus tells us to love our neighbors, but who are our neighbors? Does the command mean to just love fellow Israelites—or everyone? Read more…
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What Happened to Cain in the Bible?
• 05/21/2017
What happened to Cain in the Bible? In the Book of Genesis, we are told about Cain’s birth, his violent act of fratricide and his subsequent exile. We learn that Read more…
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When Was the First Communion?
• 04/10/2017
Early Christians celebrated the Lord’s Supper as a full meal, but by the third century, it had ceased to be a banquet and had become a ritualized small meal instead. Read more…
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On What Day Did Jesus Rise?
• 04/05/2017
On what day did Jesus rise? After three days or on the third day? Ben Witherington III examines this question in BAR. Read more…
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First Person: Misogyny in the Bible
• 03/07/2017
According to scholar Christopher Rollston, there are many examples of the marginalization of women in the Bible. Read more…
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The Song of Songs: Love Is Strong as Death
• 02/13/2017
The Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) from the Hebrew Bible is a love song beyond compare—although it has been compared to everything. Some have deemed it lewd entertainment. Read more…
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Were Mary and Joseph Married or Engaged at Jesus’ Birth?
• 01/12/2017
Were Mary and Joseph married or engaged when they traveled to Bethlehem? Biblical scholar Mark Wilson examines what the gospels say in this Bible History Daily guest post. Read more…
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Lovers’ Tale
• 01/02/2017
Theodore Feder explores how a second-century pagan love story alludes to the Biblical tale of Adam and Eve. Read more…
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The Adam and Eve Story: Eve Came From Where?
• 01/02/2017
The Book of Genesis tells us that God created woman from one of Adam’s ribs. But Biblical scholar Ziony Zevit says that the traditional translation of the Biblical text is Read more…
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Christmas Stories in Christian Apocrypha
• 12/01/2016
The modern Christmas nativity scene is drawn from apocryphal texts in addition to the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke. Read more…
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Who Was Jesus’ Biological Father?
• 11/19/2016
Was Joseph Jesus’ biological father? If not, who was Jesus’ biological father? Andrew Lincoln examines what early Christians thought about conception and explains how views about this subject have changed Read more…
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Who Is Satan?
• 11/10/2016
Does our modern conception of Satan have any resemblance to the devil in the Bible? Just who is Satan? Read more…
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The Bible in the News: So It Sayeth
• 11/02/2016
What does the popular press say about the word “sayeth” and the Bible? BAR “Bible in the News” author Leonard J. Greenspoon explores this in his last column in the Read more…
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The Virgin Mary and the Prophet Muhammad
• 11/01/2016
The Virgin Mary and the prophet Muhammad have a lot in common within their respective Christian and Islamic traditions, according to author Mary Joan Winn Leith. Read more…
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What Does the Parable of the Talents Mean?
• 09/26/2016
Richard L. Rohrbaugh examines the Parable of the Talents’ meaning in his Biblical Views column “Reading the Bible Through Ancient Eyes” in BAR. Read more…
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The Parables of Jesus
• 09/26/2016
Helmut Koester suggests that the parables of Jesus did not communicate a hidden meaning when they were told by Jesus—the parables of Jesus could be understood by all. Read more…
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Does the Gospel of Mark Reveal Jesus’ Anger or His Compassion?
• 09/18/2016
In the fifth-century C.E. Codex Bezae, an early edition of the New Testament written in Greek, the Gospel of Mark describes Jesus’ anger before healing a leper (Mark 1:41). While Read more…
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Christian Apocrypha: The “Lost Gospels”?
• 09/13/2016
The Christian apocrypha—noncanonical gospels—didn’t make the cut. But were they truly rejected, suppressed and destroyed? Until recent times there was no doubt. But now this “truth” may be unraveling. Many Read more…
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Job Challenges God by Suing: God Responds
• 09/06/2016
After losing his health, wealth and children in inexplicable tragedies, the righteous and devout man Job questions God as to what he must have done to deserve such a heavy Read more…
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Defining Biblical Hermeneutics
• 09/03/2016
The hermeneutics of the Bible are the many ways people read the Bible. Read more…
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Jacob in the Bible
• 08/15/2016
Who did Jacob wrestle with in the Bible? Phyllis Trible connects this episode to her own struggle with feminism and the Bible in her Biblical Views column “Wrestling with Faith.” Read more…
