I received some questions about how divine institutions are coming under attack by Russian and Western political theories, so I thought I would adapt the answer for our blog here:[Read More]
Apologetics
Putin’s Shared Nazi Roots With The Left Part II: Reactions to Heidegger
Heidegger’s influence penetrated every aspect of society. As a rector, his revolutionary thought dominated the university,[1] but he was also a popular author whose books were found in countless rucksacks of fallen German soldiers across Russia and Africa.[2] Heidegger continues to rule philosophy from the grave, but here will be a discussion of two schools of thought that are in superficial conflict with each other even though they are ideological cousins that trace their roots to Heidegger.
Putin’s Shared Nazi Roots With The Left Part I: The Emerging of Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a Nazi who is loved by the Western Left as well as Russian ideologues. He was not born in a vacuum but had several influences. Heidegger’s philosophy cannot be understood holistically without understanding him on the backdrop of Nietzsche’s existentialism[1] among other issues, but to understand where Heidegger’s ideas are being repurposed in the most dangerous ways today—specifically in the Russian genocide against Ukrainians in the Russian struggle against the West—it is helpful to understand Heidegger’s role as a fascist philosopher among the 20th century Marxist discussion.
Ezra 10:6 in light of Nehemiah, Josephus, Elephantine, and 1 Esdras
The Book of Ezra records Israel’s return to the land after the Babylonian exile. The first half deals with Zerubbabel’s return and its ramifications (Ezra 1–6) and the second half deals with Ezra’s return and its ramifications (Ezra 7–10). Chapter 7 has a decree by Artaxerxes that gives Ezra permission to return, chapter 8 records the return. Then in chapter 9, Ezra learns that Israel had been intermarrying with pagans and prays and chapter 10 shows how Ezra dealt with this sin. The Book of Nehemiah would have originally been part of the same volume, so chapter 10 would actually be part of a 23-chapter book, though the versification was not added until much later.[Read More]
Four Objects Related to the 70-Year Chronology
Lately, I have been doing some work with the Book of Ezra, which begins with Cyrus’ decree that was issued, “that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished” (Ezra 1:1). Ezra does not actually quote Jeremiah, but assumes that the reader is biblically literate. The work that I am doing will explore the biblical issues further, but as I studied for that project, I came across some archaeological items that are worth discussing here.[Read More]
Three Arguments not to Make in the Chronology Debate
The Patterns of Evidence documentary series has become popular with evangelicals in recent years. It proposes a revised chronology based on David Rohl’s work that shortens the Egyptian timeline such that the Exodus weakened Egypt’s army, making them vulnerable for an invasion and occupation that’s known as the Hyksos Period (aka the Second Intermediate Period). Others who accept the historicity of the Exodus will typically say that Israel was enslaved during the Hyksos Period and left sometime afterwards during the Eighteenth Dynasty.
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