I enjoy reading books by writers from other cultures such as ancient Greek tales by Homer and Hesiod and even the earlier one called Gilgamesh, the latter making me think more deeply about the biblical Noah; novels from Spanish writers filled with magical realism, which helps me understand prophecy; books by a French Jewish Nobel [...]
I will write several articles on the biblical book Jonah. In this first one, I will point out the difficulties with the story, the New Testament explanations that try to see Christian doctrine in the tale, and the view of a prominent Christian who does the same. In a future article I will summarize the view [...]
By Israel Drazin Philosophers and thinkers generally reject many religious concepts. There is no religious concept more anathema to them than grace. Grace is commonly understood as God’s free unearned love given generously by a loving deity. It is unearned for there is nothing that people can do to merit God’s [...]
Jesus, Interrupted Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (and Why We Don’t Know About them) By Bart D. Ehrman HarperOne, 2009, 292 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin Can knowledgeable people who are convinced that what they read in the Bible is not totally true, who see that many of their coreligionists have [...]
By Israel Drazin Why do people feel that they should listen to their clergy? There is nothing in the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, or Koran that says that its adherents must obey rabbis, priests, and imams. In fact, Judaism didn’t have rabbis until around the year 70 of the Common Era, after the second [...]
