Old Testament

When I told my housemate Herman, who has cerebral palsy that I would be teaching a course on the biblical books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, he asked… — October 22, 2015

"When the church whispers about sex and the culture yells about it, who's voice is gonna be heard?" (Prostitutes and Polygamists, p. 19). Parents, children, pastors, teachers, all of… — September 11, 2015

I start a course in a few weeks on the books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—the Pentateuch books everyone ignores, including me until this year.  I thought I… — August 24, 2015

If you've ever wondered... "What's up with all the weird sexual behavior in the Old Testament?" ...then you should check out the book trailer for my new book, Prostitutes and Polygamists:… — May 15, 2015

This day has a special significance in our family. On May 4, 1997 our younger son Noah was born. He turns eighteen today. He’s now an adult. Today… — May 4, 2015

“Samuel, Samuel.” Most readers of the Old Testament are familiar with the story of young Samuel sleeping at the tabernacle, under the care of the priest Eli (1… — April 29, 2015

In recent years there has been a spate of books addressing the problem of the “Canaanite genocide” by Wright, Copan, and Seibert. Even Lamb entered the fray.  In… — February 20, 2015

Carolyn Custis James, author of The Gospel of Ruth: Loving God Enough to Break the Rules will be teaching a course based on her book at Biblical Theological Seminary from April… — February 13, 2015

When I spoke to Paul Copan at a biblical studies conference in November 2013, he told me about a book he was co-writing on the Canaanite Genocide. I… — February 6, 2015

If you are a Bible geek, and a fan of Gilbert & Sullivan, you will love this (less than 4 minutes). Truly amazing. Wet your pants funny. Thanks to… — December 12, 2014

An article appeared in the Guardian last week asking if Moses was just a myth.  I got into an interesting online discussion with a few InterVarsity friends (Jon,… — December 10, 2014

A few days ago some InterVarsity friends (Jon, Dan, Tim, and Jesse) and I were discussing an article that appeared in the Guardian asking if Moses was just… — December 8, 2014

"You must have accurate scales and accurate weights, an accurate ephah and an accurate hin (1 gallon)" (Leviticus 19:36). If you read that verse carefully, you should have… — November 4, 2014

The Ten Commandments have been smashed a second time.  The first time the perpetrator was Moses.  He got mad when he saw that the Israelites were worshiping the golden… — October 25, 2014

"Denzel Goes Old Testament" is the title of the film review of The Equalizer by Richard Corliss in the most recent Time (Oct. 6, 2014).  He plays Mac who… — October 3, 2014

Everyone wanted to kill Moses.  In Exodus 1-2 Pharaoh tried multiple times. He told the midwives to kill all Hebrew baby boys, and when that didn't work he… — September 29, 2014

Recently, Joel Osteen Ministries posted on Facebook that we should pray "hidden dreams" and "unborn promises" based on Psalm 2:8. I disagree, and write about it here on… — September 26, 2014

I received an email this morning from a current student.  Here is how he started, “Since we talked about weird laws tonight, Numbers 5:11-31 has been deeply troubling to… — September 17, 2014