Author: J.C. Cross

Invisible

If the biblical accounts share similarities with Sumerian, Egyptian, and Babylonian myths, how is the bible any different?

1) God is invisible, while other religions adore statues.
2) The world and universe came from nothing and everything has a beginning.
3) God is the one creator.
4) God was not born, he did not originate in a sexual act, and he has always been.
5) God is not of nature, but nature comes from him.

As difficult it is to read ancient near eastern literature, these differences make the Hebrew language of the faith something to study. Genesis 1 is a superbly designed text. The intricacies create wonder for its close readers.

Creationist questions pt. IV

Will praying for translation enable you to understand a foreign language? God is not a “celestial butler,” and relying on the holy spirit to reveal the meaning of Greek and Hebrew is not something to be lauded. Try praying for God to give you the answers on a test that you have not studied for or more importantly, try praying for money to drop from the sky or your troubled marriage to change overnight. To rely on supernatural exegesis is also intellectually lazy.

A case of my incomplete knowledge of translation came to light when i asked my Wycliffe missionary about the use of AI for Bible translation into Nahuatl. Though the AI could appear to do it, my friend told me about there being multiple dialects and many other complications i had not considered. She’s an expert.

Don’t rely on answers falling from the sky, go to the experts if you need to and then study to show yourself approved.

Creationist questions pt. III

Keep scripture in textual view. It does not reflect a scientific worldview. It cannot. The bronze age viewpoint of the Old Testament centered on a localized perspective, one where the sky held back an ocean, the rain poured from cerulean windows, and pillars held up the Earth and sky. Mesopotamia was their world world. A flood destroyed that reality.

Science says the universe is 14 billion years old, that evolution led the species forward, that progress is understanding this. Black holes, quasars, billions of galaxies, each with billions of stars. Science need not be the enemy and no strange interpretations of the scripture need to be made.

But there is a reason to read “The Word.” It sustains through instruction and edification. The Greats help us see; Philips on the road. Edifying pastors and Christian literature. Bible translators helping the foreigner and illiterate.

The ancient Israelites do have much to teach us. Prager’s OT commentaries and Jordan Peterson’s and Hillsdale’s seminars and classes will help us understand the wisdom sent down to us.

Not all is green in Greenland (and not in Panama either)

Despite the fact that Trump may soon want to put his face on Mount Rushmore, the strategic importance of Greenland and the Faroe Islands is becoming more and more apparent:

– Chinese and Russian warships are performing joint maneuvers in the arctic. China is building a Polar Silk Road.
– Biden and Trump (during his first term) built ties with both islands to counter Russia and China.
– Almost 90 billion barrels of oil and 1.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas are in the areas (22 percent of the world’s undiscovered conventional oil and natural gas). Trillions of dollars worth of minerals–silver, copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, and rare earths–are underground there.
– Greenland already hosts a large U.S. military base with missile warning and space surveillance systems.
– Trump’s statements about the Panama Canal are due to concerns over the growing influence of Chinese state-owned companies there as well. Since 2022, the State Department has warned that Beijing’s acquisition of technologies, facilities, and infrastructure in Latin America may have other purposes.
– In 2022, the U.S. Southern Command said Chinese state-owned companies had working ports on both sides of the Panama Canal, ports which can be quickly pivoted toward military endeavors.

Trump may want to be the next Teddy Roosevelt with a new Monroe Doctrine, but hopefully he is not talking about military force. Like House Democrats have maintained, we shouldn’t be invading Greenland, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, or seizing the Panama Canal.

Creationist questions pt. II

Behemoths, Unicorns, Fiery flying serpents, O my.

Continuing my short exploration of supposed dinosaurs in the OT, these creatures are manipulated into prehistoric animals. Fire-breathing leviathan aside, behemoth stood as a super-bull, a divine cow. The creature’s tail was a male organ. In stood in parallel to “thighs,” a euphemism for testicles. He extends or stiffens his tail. His strength was his virility. He’s a mythic chaos counterpart to the leviathan dragon. It all stands for God’s domination over the cosmic order and man’s frailty.

Unicorns in the KJV are another problem for young earth creationists. Unicorns are not a one-horned creature as some creationists suggest. Scholars say that the Hebrew does not allow that construction. It’s a mistranslation for wild ox.

Finally, no, flying serpents were not pterodactyls. The burning bites were most likely venomous bites. The Egyptians used similar language for cobra bites. Diving beings like flying cobras were common in Jewish literature. Cobras were the earthly counterpart to the spiritual, winged versions.

Adapted from “Misinterpreting Genesis” by Ben Stanhope.

Creationist questions pt. I

Some creationists say that some of the animal literary figures in the Old Testament (Psalm 74 and Isaiah 27:1) are dinosaurs, that Earth is only 6,000 – 10,000 years old. If we look at the background of these verses, we see that the Leviathan spoken of is not a prehistoric creature like a dinosaur.

1. First, dinosaurs–nor any other creatures–did not have multiple heads. Hydras do, however.
2. Then in Isaiah 27:1, Leviathan is a serpent and God will kill the dragon that is “in the sea.”
3. “Litanu” was the Ugaritic (the closest language to Hebrew) leviathan, the god of the chaotic waters of the sea.
4. As in Genesis 1-2, Yahweh divided the sea, smashing the heads of Leviathan before creating the sun and moon and establishing all the boundaries of earth. Yahweh is the real dragon slayer.
5. Leviathan is used as a figurative symbol, emphasizing God’s kingship over all creation.

The watery chaos that threatens the created order and His dominion over natural creatures are common motifs of Near Eastern cultures. In Genesis, God hovered over the chaotic waters.

Adapted from “Misinterpreting Genesis” by Ben Stanhope.

Last few days of the year!

Met some nice people from the extended Brasilian family. Sacramento doesn’t have much to do in the way of activities, but is only a few hours from Tahoe. A little bit of Christmas silliness with matching PJs and fun.

On the way back, I was listening to tech news about AI and had a few discoveries:

1. Over-reliance – I don’t currently physically work in an office, so I can’t say much about how regular users use AI. You can see the facility of AI writing your emails and reports. Obviously we are not at a place where we let the AI take over; we shouldn’t trust our critical processes to software that is not intelligent in our sense. Right now, chatbot AI is a probability process of auto-complete.

2. Environmental concerns – Like cryptocurrency, AI is processing-intensive. Data centers are being built for expanding AI processes.

3. Over-investment – The hype, like others, may be at a stage where it’s little more than a buzzword. That’s an oversimplification, but gives one pause when budgeting.

Just some thoughts before the New Year.

End times laziness

There’s a certain kind of intellectual laziness arising from end-times teaching. In the 80s, television preachers pleaded for people to repent because of the approaching end.

Things haven’t changed.

Yes, it will come one day, but His people must live like it is already here. They must take the time to take time. Patience for the waiting come alive. Grace is a big part of it. Grace and patience for others, faith that His hand is on His love objects.

At midnight December 31, 1999, the ball came down and the lights stayed on.

And taxes

Yes yes yes our taxes are being spent on such and such, but what can we do to change that?

And then the conversation ends. Life goes on.

Even when DOGE inevitably exposes excess, it will be something that doesn’t affect us. We are comfortable. Modern society lets us be distracted.

At least until it hits us personally.

Unions

I have always been ambivalent about unions. I have never actually been a member of one until now.

I am first of all concerned about where my dues are going. We have meetings, talking about organizing. One of the main concerns is the pay discrepancy between the different third party employers that contract us out to the client. We all have MAs and PhDs, but are paid very little for our education. Add experience for some of us.

However, the union reps are recommending we read a book on organizing. I am not optimistic. They are young and idealistic. That is not a bad thing in itself, but I think they may be a bit too zealous as opposition to the employer.

Even so, I am wary about a new union. The client may not be happy and I need to guard my position.

How is the God of the bible different from the other religions of antiquity?

You can learn about the Epic of Gilgamesh or the gods of animistic religions in the rest of the world. But why would the ancient texts of the bible be any different?
– God is universal, rather than everyone having their own deities. We are also all members of God’s family, brothers and sisters.
– God is invisible and incorporeal, not material, rather than wooden gods propped up on your shelf. The material world itself is not the only reality. God is beyond nature. He made nature and is not of it. The human belief in nature gods ended.
– God is moral and justice is in the future. Other gods prior to the God of the bible were capricious and amoral.
– God lets his children challenge and question. Humans can wrestle with God and question Him.
– God loves and wants to be loved.
– Humans are universally valuable because we are created in His image.
– Humans have universal rights.

Hit the holidays: Handmade shopping sites and safety

This shopping season keep yourself safe, look for bargains, and try makers for non-traditional gifts.

BEWARE
– Watch for substandard look-alike products: Walking the streets of a city you can find curbside vendors selling bogus merchandise. Don’t be part of the crowd that spend over $2 trillion on fake merchandise every year, products that sometimes are very convincing.
– Look for fake manufacturer’s warranty and safety seals: Don’t go for bargains with opened or fake merch. Holographic labels may also be the best guarantors.
– Get product descriptions: Make sure you get what you pay for.
– Watch for fake websites and stores: Watch for fly by night sellers and deals too good to be true. Do others a favor and contact a bogus site’s hosting company to report sellers, if necessary.
– Don’t rely on price or ratings: Scammers can create fake reviews or ratings. Look for more detailed reviews than just one liners.
– Never click on email attachments or solicitations: Go directly to a seller’s website by typing its name into your browser address bar. Watch for slight variations in site names.
– Verify you are dealing with a real company by typing the third-party seller’s address into a search engine, using “scam” or “complaint” to check for prior warnings from other customers.
– Watch for the lock: Make sure you buy only from sites that have the lock icon in the address bar of your browser. This signifies that the site uses secure shopping.
– Buy with a credit card: Your card is safer than debit cards, fake gift cards, crypto, or possibly bogus apps.

BARGAINS
– Follow your fav retailers. You can get the latest bargains and news.
– Review the seller’s site for learning about the seller and to get their other recommended bargains.
– Used isn’t necessarily bad. Refurbished merchandise, like computers, from Amazon, Walmart, and Target can present significant discounts.
– Buy gift cards in December when some sellers have card bargains.
– Remember, you deserve great customer service.
– Customize and narrow your search by price or other criteria.
– Watch out for shipping fees.
– Look for Amazon bargains at Camel Camel Camel.
– Use cash back and reputable coupon sites like Rakuten.com, TopCashback.com, CouponCabin.com, Ibotta.com, RetailMeNot.com, and KrazyCouponLady.com.
– Again, review ratings AND reviews.

MAKERS
Amazon.com/handmade: Bet you didn’t know this side of Amazon.
Etsy.com: You can click on gift mode and get suggestions for your friends, wife, husband, relatives.
Michaels.com/makerplace: Read their gift guide and how-tos to make your own gifts.
iCraftgifts.com and goimagine.com: Homie gifts and sellers near you, respectively.
Cratejoy.com: Themed gift baskets with optional subscriptions.
Artisans.coop: View unique gifts and gifts for children.