Author Archives: macyjotaylor

By using the word “fulfillment,” Scripture is referring to the pattern of completion of something that was referred to in the past, or in the Old Testament, that is being finally realized. The article entitled “Scribes of the Kingdom” explains this by starting with this encompassing notion: “the Scriptures present the abiding form of God’sContinue reading “March 3rd”

Based on Numbers 11, 13-14, and 25, it seems that God condemns the wilderness generation because they do not believe in his power or his ability to bring them to the true “land of milk and honey.” In Numbers 14, the people claim that they wish they had died in Egypt or in the wildernessContinue reading “February 20th”

Mary Douglass defines dirt, or impurity, as “matter out of place,” (p. 36). It follows that impurity means disorder within a community of within society. Purity, then, is a system or a society in which every aspect is in its right place, that place being as God commands it. We can recall that God tookContinue reading “February 18th”

In the Bible, God is a creator. He is a mysterious supernatural force, described as all good and omnipotent. God is a superior force above humans, and humans must obey him or be classified as wrong or as sinners. Many actions and ideas God displays in the Bible could be considered harsh or chauvinistic, andContinue reading “February 11th”

Joseph plants his silver cup in Benjamin’s bag as a way to get his brothers to return to him and to test if they had truly changed from the people that sold him into slavery. He does this for several reasons. Benjamin is the only other son that Rachel bore, and Joseph learns that BenjaminContinue reading “February 6th”

In the story, “Jacob Wrestles with God,” Jacob purposefully makes himself alone in the camp. A mysterious man comes to him and they wrestle until daybreak. In the process, the man touches the socket of Jacob’s hip, possibly permanently wrenching it. The man cannot overcome Jacob, and requests that he let him go, but JacobContinue reading “February 4th”

Theology, John C. Cavadini explains, is defined as the study of God. If theology is the study of God, then religion should be similar but involve belief. Religion, point blank, is, “belief in or worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods,” according to Oxford Dictionary, but it goes beyond that.Continue reading “January 30th”

As an atheist, I find it difficult to have faith in something like Scripture that describes how holy beings like God exist. The word “faith” itself is has somewhat negative connotations, as it sounds as though one who has “faith” in others is giving up their reasoning and blindly following. In “The Reasonableness of Faith,”Continue reading “January 28th”

In Genesis 22, God commands Abraham to bring his son, Isaac, to a mountain and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering. It seems like a strange request, as Isaac required a miracle to come into existence and seems to have done nothing wrong. However, Abraham obliges without any hesitation, despite his love for hisContinue reading “January 23rd”

Noah is described by Leon Kass in The Beginning of Wisdom and in Genesis as being righteous and simple, and is also known to have walked with God. Noah finds grace in the eyes of God because he avoids the sins of others. After discovering their own mortality following Adam’s natural death, the humans areContinue reading “January 21st”