Coursera Courses

Coursera is certainly one of the more interesting things that has happened to the Internet. These particular courses could intrigue Christians:

The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem
https://www.coursera.org/course/jerusalem

Calvin - Histoire et réception d'une Réforme
https://www.coursera.org/course/calvin

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Lot, Noah, Shem, the Fall - how they all combine together

In this short writing, an attempt is made to show how the accounts of Noah, Shem, Lot, as well as the events after the Fall serve to powerfully combine to reveal the character of God in those who obey Him and those that do not. The stories of Noah and Lot seem disparate but the parallels are incredible. The first connection is the feature of “wine” in both of these accounts. The parallels follow the pattern of (A) God’s salvation act (B) The drinking of wine (C) Actions of the Children. It is easier to see the parallels when they are juxtaposed side-by-side (see picture). The (C) parallel may be harder to observe. Lot’s daughters’ attempts to bear children by their father is in fact the “uncovering of nakedness” prohibited later in the Pentateuch in Leviticus 18:6 -20. The verse below suffices for us to develop our thoughts further: “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord.” (Lev. 18:6) This ties back to the F...

The use of Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8

For Paul in Ephesians 4:8, clearly there are some changes from the text that Paul is supposedly citing which is Psalm 68:18. Comparing Psalm 68:18 and Ephesians 4:8, it is obvious there are differences. I believe Paul was actually using the LXX but has changed its words for the occasion in Ephesians 4. The LXX version of Psalm 68:18 and Ephesians 4:8 differs by a few words: Psalm 68:18 (it is actually Psalm 67:19 in the LXX): ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος ᾐχμαλώτευσας αἰχμαλωσίαν, ἔλαβες δόματα ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ , Ephesians 4:8 ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν,* ⸆ ἔδωκεν δόματα ⸀ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Structurally you can see the LXX and Eph 4 is similar but for a few words changes. The first change is from 2nd person (LXX) to 3rd person (Eph 4) with regards to who is doing the ascending in the first line. So the English Bible rightly translates the phrase to "When he ascended on high" versus Psalm 68, " you ascended" ...

Did Jesus quote a non-existent verse in John 7:38?

So this was asked in Quora : My response below: The verse is NOT non-existent. The thing is the reference to a river flowing out occurs in a few places in the Old Testament. Thus when Jesus says "As the Scripture has said ..." He is referring to a theme that occurs repeatedly in the Old Testament. It is important to understand what "the rivers flowing out" imply in the Old Testament. They always refer to the dwelling place of God . These occurs in a few places. As early as the Book of Genesis, we see this Scripture in Genesis 2:10 "A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers." (Genesis 2:10, ESV) Therefore, the source of the river = Eden. And Eden is none other than the very dwelling place of God. Biblical theology helps us understand Eden as a "type" of temple. Where else do we see this? We see this again in Ezekiel 47. In Ezekiel 47, in Ezekiel's vision of a New Temple, he pi...

The Gospel According to Yeeks

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