The belief in what the Bible is a controversial matter in the lives of many throughout history. Traditional Christians and Jews have held that the Bible is God’s inspired word, without error. Critics are quick to point out the many passages where there appears to be contradictions, exaggerations, fallacies, and inconsistencies. They claim that it is a book like any other, biased, riddled with errors, and untrustworthy. Even though there are be passages in the Bible that are difficult to understand, through careful study these inconstancies can be explained.
One of the foundational beliefs of the Christian faith is the conviction that Scripture is the inspired Word of God. This is testified several places in the Bible such as II Timothy
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Once such historical inaccuracy can be found in Daniel 5-6. Historians agree that Cyrus the Great was the first ruler of the Persian/Median Empire at the fall of the Babylonian Empire. However when reading Daniel 5’s description of the fall of Babylon, Daniel says that Darius took the kingdom at the age of sixty-two. Biblical critics such as Steve Wells argue that Daniel is likely wrong about the existence of Darius the Median. The author of Daniel likely became confused with Darius the Great, a Persian who was the third empire after Cyrus. Darius the Great, however, ruled seventeen years after the fall of Babylon. The author of Daniel, it is argued, is likely referring to this Darius, who ruled much of the near east, and thus could write a decree “to all the earth.” Thus the critic argues that Daniel is in obvious error in regard to the historical accuracy of these events, and cannot be trusted. However, by looking carefully at this text, there is a potential resolution to the alleged error . Daniel 9:1 says “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans…” This hints that some higher ruler placed Darius over the realm of the Chaldean portion of the Persian Empire. Hence the Darius mentioned in Daniel is likely another title for Guabru whom Cyrus made a governor over the region Beyond the …show more content…
One of the most well-known of Jesus in Matthew 5:44 is to “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you…” A similar command is found in Proverbs 25:21. However, the Imprecatory Psalms in the Bible appear to contradict these commands with calls upon God to destroy the wicked who are harassing the Psalmist personally, as well as all the people of God. So often the Psalmist seem to be cold blooded revenge on his enemies. It seems impossible that a book inspired by God who is love have contain these Psalms of hate. However we must consider first that these curses that the Psalmist calls upon his enemies, he does so through the Spirit of God. As creatures of the Creator man does not have any rights in regard to God. Man’s duty is to obey is Creator and give him all the honor forever. Hence sinful man is rightly under the judgment of a just God, as we read in Romans 5. God will receive the glory in both the salvation of His people, but also in the destruction of the wicked. As a child of God in covenant Israel, the Psalmist knows that the enemies of the people of God, are also enemies of God himself. In addition, these cries for vengeance are not so that the Psalmist, but that God will receive the glory in the destruction of the wicked
St. Albans Psalter Psalm 68 is not long, but it does have lots of detailed material to study the author’s choice of language, and the power of the images that are being conveyed to the readers through an emotional and sentimental way. The simplicity of this psalm’s gives it power, since it expresses an emotional despair in a careful shaped prayer, which comes from a human being in what seems to be a life-threatening situation. In the image and the content, the psalmist’s travels an arc of desperation to salvation, in a vivid personal plea to Christ to save him from what seems to be a swirling vortex of hopelessness that threatens to pull him under forever.
Though Darius died in the year after the revolt, Xerxes repressed the Egypt revolt in 486BC “year after Darius’ death, he sent an army against the Egyptian rebels and decisively crushed them” (Herodotus). Although this caused Xerxes to become unpopular in Egypt, the Egyptians were submissive and displayed loyalty to Xerxes “twenty-five years of tranquillity followed… Egyptians were submissive subjects of the Persian crown, and even showed remarkable courage and skill in the Persian military expeditions” (George Rawlinson). However, Xerxes had to punish Babylon revolted twice. This indicated to historians that the Xerxes wasn’t successful in punishing the Babylonians the first time they revolted. Babylon has been severely punished “Babylon had revolted and that the satrap Zopyrus had been killed… Babylon was terribly punished. The splendid city fortifications… were demolished... Esagila with its towering ziggurat was torn down, as were the other temples… statue of Bel Marduk… of solid gold, was carried off and melted down… priest of Esagila who protested the sacrilege was killed… estates of the merchant princes and citizens were confiscated and granted to Persians… Syria was detached from Babylon and made a fully independent satrapy. Babylonia itself lost its identity through incorporation with Assyria and was henceforth ferociously taxed"
In the first chapter of God Behaving Badly, David Lamb argues that God is unfairly given a bad reputation. He claims these negative perceptions are fueled by pop culture and lead many to believe the lie that the God of the Old Testament is angry, sexist, racist, violent, legalistic, rigid, and distant. These negative perceptions, in turn, affect our faith. Ultimately, Lamb seeks to demonstrate that historical context disproves the presumptuous aforementioned. In addition, he defends his position by citing patterns of descriptions that characterize God throughout the Old Testament. “Our image of God will directly affect how we either pursue or avoid God. If we believe that the God of the Old Testament is really harsh, unfair and cruel, we won’t want anything to do with him” (Lamb 22). Clearly, they way Christians choose to see God will shape their relationship with Him.
Cyrus, the first persian emperor, ruled in a unique fashion, employing tolerance instead of fear, however, he relentlessly expanded his empire until his death. For example, When Cyrus and his massive army conquered Babylon he freed the jews and allowed the to return to the promise land. In addition he assisted in the rebuilding of their temple. Although some argue he did this to create a buffer state between hostile egypt and his empire, i find it more likely he did this to bring more peoples under his administration. The method which he concours societies is interesting; he presents himself not as a conqueror but as a liberator freeing the people of the region from an oppressive despot. Because of theses methods it was much easier to bring people under his rule. Additionally, once he brought states under imperial control he used strategic methods to govern the newly ‘liberated’ territories.
The Hebrew Bible, better known as the Old Testament, is a collection of tomes that form part of the Biblical canon. Many scholars around the world do not think that a single author wrote the books contained in the Hebrew Bible, but rather that it represents centuries of stories frequently compiled after the events they describe . The stories were created with visions for the future, in order to allow audiences insight into communities and beliefs that were common thought during their era. The stories responded to the issues and problems of their time, but also addressed contemporary climates. While the stories themselves may not be true, they convey truth without needing literal readings. For example, the creation stories in Genesis, portray God as creating the universe, and while this is considered as not ‘literally true’; the stories communicate theological truths about mankind’s relationship with God through the eyes of Hebrew writers .
Belshazzar is cited in the first verse of chapter seven (7) as the King of Babylon, however Belshazzar is noted as the last King of Babylon and the son of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter five. The last king of the Babylonian Empire was Nabonidus. It is believed that Nabonidus for inexplicable reasons moved to the town of Teima and abrogated the empire to his son Belshazzar. Therefore, Seow points out that the “literary setting of Daniel 7 is the beginning of the end of the Babylonian Empire” (Seow, p. 101). The literary chronology of the period set is correct, but it is generally agreed among scholars (Collins, Hartman, Di Lella) there is no historical value in the dating.
Psalm 113 reads like a 1st century pep talk for those with spiritual burnout. The writer makes his case for the Lord by pointing to the many ways that God earns our praise. These nine verses of scripture are saturated with three specific reasons to praise the Lord – He is Su...
Two of the most well-known leaders of the Persian Empire were Cyrus the Great and Darius. The two brought slightly different approaches to the table of governing an empire. In 559 B.C., Cyrus became the uniting leader of the Persians, and went offensive against the Medes. “In 550 B.C. he established Persian control over Media, making it the first Persian satrapy, or province.
may the God of vengeance now yield me His places to punish the wicked,” (Dumas 131).
It was thought to have been a small city or a large port town. The most common history of Babylon is around 1792 B.C., near the end of the Akkadian empire at the start of King Hammurabi’s reign. He was given the throne by his father King Sin-Muballit. During his reign he quickly transformed Babylon into one of the greatest civilizations in the ancient world. Hammurabi was an Amorite, Semitic people who were ancestors of the Akkadians.
For centuries now Christians have claimed to possess the special revelation of an omnipotent, loving Deity who is sovereign over all of His creation. This special revelation is in written form and is what has come to be known as The Bible which consists of two books. The first book is the Hebrew Scriptures, written by prophets in a time that was before Christ, and the second book is the New Testament, which was written by Apostles and disciples of the risen Lord after His ascension. It is well documented that Christians in the context of the early first century were used to viewing a set of writings as being not only authoritative, but divinely inspired. The fact that there were certain books out in the public that were written by followers of Jesus and recognized as being just as authoritative as the Hebrew Scriptures was never under debate. The disagreement between some groups of Christians and Gnostics centered on which exact group of books were divinely inspired and which were not. The debate also took place over the way we can know for sure what God would have us include in a book of divinely inspired writings. This ultimately led to the formation of the Biblical canon in the next centuries. Some may ask, “Isn’t Jesus really the only thing that we can and should call God’s Word?” and “Isn’t the Bible just a man made collection of writings all centered on the same thing, Jesus Christ?” This paper summarizes some of the evidences for the Old and New Testament canon’s accuracy in choosing God breathed, authoritative writings and then reflects on the wide ranging
Today’s culture is one where people like to do as little work as possible. Even when it comes to reading our own scripture, The Holy Words of God, a lot of people like to look up one verse and reference it to something without knowing what the rest of the passage says. Psalms 109 is no exception, it is one the more widely misused passages as of late. A popular verse from Psalms 109 is verse 8 which reads “Let his days be few; and let another take his office”, this is seen in reference to our current president, but what people fail to realize is what else David is actually praying. This paper is going to go through Psalms 109 and unpack it verse by verse to show the true meaning of what David was praying and to give us a new look at how to pray.
Darius I lived from 550-486 BCE, and was King of Persia from 522 BCE to his death. In only one year Darius I fought nineteen battles and was able to dispatch eight men who were in line to be king. Once he became king, Darius I divided the empire into twenty sections, called satrapies, which led to better governing of the people within the empire. Also leading to improved organization of the society, Darius I started the currency of the daric. The daric system was entirely comprised of coins, which also improved trade. Prior to Darius I’s ruling, Susa, a major area for trade, was very weak. On top of inventing coinage, Darius I completely renovated this town to ensure that it would be safe against any threats and further improve trade. Darius I also ordered that cons...
Victory over my enemies Psalm 3:1-8 Introduction: In this life you will come across some enemies. Enemies in school, enemies on your job, even in the church, a place where we should have peace, a place where we will come to praise and worship God. But you can't come and praise and worship because of your enemies, and this may sound mean but some of you are sleeping with the enemy but I encourage you to go head and praise God, look at your neighbors and say neighbor if you don't want to praise him don't hinder me.
Psalm 43 is a cry to God: “Judge me O God and plead my cause against