Ways to Faith > Blog > 2021 > July

Items Posted In July, 2021

Herod The Great
Herodium

Posted on July 29, 2021 by

Categories: Biblical History, Biblical Names, Historical Evidence

There are many villains in world history but few as despicable as Herod the Great.   Herod played a pivotal role in the early life of Christ as Herod desperately tried – but ultimately failed – to kill the newborn King of the Jews. Scriptures depict King Herod as conniving and ruthless, struggling to maintain his power while ruthlessly subduing the Jewish population of Israel.  He would stop at nothing to ensure his power, including killing his own children. Herod killed children less than two years old living in Bethlehem when he heard that the Messiah had been born there from… Read More »

Date of the Crucifixion
The resurrection of Christ is the central feature of Christianity.

Posted on July 21, 2021 by

Categories: Biblical History, Historical Evidence

The exact date of the Crucifixion has been debated for many years, and even today, many theologians get it wrong.  That is a bold statement, to be sure, but it is one that I am willing to back up. We now have many more resources to establish the date of the Crucifixion than ever before.  We can attack the problem from multiple directions, including the various eclipses that occurred over Jerusalem during the time in question, the year of Paul’s conversion, the date various Roman Emperors were in charge, recollections from the Church Fathers as to the exact date, consideration… Read More »

Three Days and Nights
A one year old male lamb was sacrificed for every family during Passover as an image of the coming Messiah who would become the Lamb of God.

Posted on July 18, 2021 by

Categories: Biblical History, Historical Evidence

Most Christians believe Christ was crucified on a Friday and rose from the dead after three days and nights.  Other believers put forth other crucifixion days including Thursday and Wednesday.  There is consensus that Christ arose on a Sunday morning based on Matthew 28:1 which notes, Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. The problem arises concerning the amount of time Christ spent in the grave.  How could he have spent three days and nights in the grave if he were crucified… Read More »

Ancient Rabbinical References to Jesus
The Torah is the first five books of the Old Testament representing the Law.

Posted on July 15, 2021 by

Categories: Biblical History, Biblical Names, Historical Evidence

Quick Facts: Ancient rabbinical literature confirms the historicity of Christ This literature is supplemented by other secular sources There is no reason to doubt the existence of Christ in ancient Israel. Ancient rabbinical references to Jesus confirm the historicity of Christ in addition to secular sources.  Another blog referenced some secular references to Christ, while this blog evaluates extra-Biblical rabbinical references. Rabbis often comment critically on Scripture passages in the Old and New Testaments.  These comments provide a historical evaluation of Jewish thought on various issues for the past several millennia.  This is not a particularly easy field to study,… Read More »

Ancient Secular References to Jesus
The historicity of Christ is supported by secular writers.

Posted on July 9, 2021 by

Categories: Biblical History, Biblical Names, Historical Evidence

Tags:

I have discussed several ancient secular references to Jesus in another post evaluating the historicity of Scripture from a broad perspective.  In this article, I am going to concentrate on the evidence substantiating the historicity of Christ. The historicity of Christ is after all the most important question that must be answered regarding all of Scripture for as Paul said, if the Resurrection of Christ did not happen, then Christians are deluded and above all to be pitied.  If Christ did not exist, then neither did the Resurrection. I am only going to evaluate secular, extra-Biblical sources for the historicity… Read More »

Hardening Your Heart
Hardening of the heart is an expression going back to the ancient Egyptians. A heavy heart when weighed against a feather could mean a dismal future in the afterlife.

Posted on July 4, 2021 by

Categories: Biblical History, Historical Evidence, Philosophical

Tags:

One of the most common colloquialisms is about hardening your heart.  According to Merriam-Webster, it means to stop having kind or friendly feelings for someone or caring about something. It would probably surprise most people that the expression derived from ancient Egypt and is important in the Biblical narrative. Hardening Your Heart Ancient Egypt was a place of customs that seem very strange to us today.  Many of these ancient customs are related to religious rituals the Egyptians followed concerning the afterlife. The Weight of the Heart ceremony was a procedure that the Egyptians believed occurred after death when you… Read More »