The faculty of Biblical Theological Seminary (BTS) went on a tour in North Philly recently to visit the area that surrounds our Hunting Park extension site.
You will never guess what we found there.
To read more check out my blog on the BTS website here.
Here are the links to the three ministries we visited:
So, did Cain really marry his sister? What happened between David and Bathsheba–was it adultery or rape?
In my next book, Prostitutes and Polygamists: A Look at Love, Old Testament Style, I discuss the wife of Cain in my discussion of incest and the sexual encounter between David and Bathsheba in my discussion of rape and adultery. (I think it was rape, not adultery.)
As I was perusing the Society of Biblical Literature blogs today, I came across two highly relevant blogs on these two women. These blogs are written by Old Testament scholars who are able to take some of their research and express it in language that is easily understandable to all readers of the Old Testament. If you’re interested in these women, check these two blogs:
Bathsheba by Sara Koenig
Whom Did Cain Marry? by Eva Mroczek
Painting, “Bathsheba Bathing” by Jean Bourdichon (1457-1521).
First there was The Bible (2013), then Noah (2014), and Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), now…
Of Kings and Prophets, about the life of Saul and David based on the books of 1, 2 Samuel. See trailer below.
The show is scheduled to air on ABC in the middle of the 2015-2016 season. Before you show it to your kids, it looks PG-ish (I’d say much of the Bible is R-rated, see my next book). (Thanks for Jeremy Chen for bringing this trailer to my attention.)
All I know about Of Kings and Prophets is what I’ve seen from this 2 minute trailer, but it does appear like some aspects of the story have been changed. Some Christians want their video versions of the Bible to be as accurate as possible to the text, and when Hollywood deviates from the story as they understand it, they find it highly offensive.
While I understand this concern, I just appreciate the fact that film and TV producers want to retell the biblical story and I will cut them slack as they express their creativity. In fact, contemporary preachers and even the writers of Scriptures often exercise creative license as they retell and summarize stories from the Bible.
Why are we shocked or offended when the artists who create these video portrayals do the same?
For any of these video biblical retellings I ask, “How did they follow the text? How did they deviate from the text? Did I like it? Why or why not?” We’ll have to wait a few months to see how these questions are answered, but I’m happy more Bible is coming. Hopefully, it will get people to think about and discuss the biblical text.
What do you think?
David T. Lamb 
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