Mike

5,352 reputation

1319

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	location	Hong Kong
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I am a Canadian, married with kid, and working in Hong Kong. I usually answer posts from a reformed / protestant / evangelical perspective.

People I have encountered on this site seem to be a ‘whole bunch of good people’. Even those who sharply disagree with my own point of view.

I am a huge sinner but am happy knowing God's grace will keep me in his grip.

	5,352 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	1 year
1319 badges		location	Hong Kong		seen	6 mins ago

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Jun 16	comment	What are the two bronze mountains in Zechariah 6? @Kazark - FYI I re-worked my answer quite a bit on this.
Jun 16	comment	What are the two bronze mountains in Zechariah 6? @JonEricson - Actually you nudged me to make a revision that has been nagging me for some time to do. This pretty much wipes away my previous post.
Jun 7	comment	Explanation of Chronological Disparities between St. John and the Synoptic Gospels Concerning Jesus' Passion @DanO'Day - aahh. so we have a lot on common after all. cheers.
Jun 6	comment	Accuracy of Alfred Edersheim's “Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah” To improve this question I think it could be phrased like ‘Is there any specific discovery in the last 200 years that would have significantly altered our view of first century rabbinical beliefs and which ones?’ and forget about who are the supposed experts in the debate.
Jun 6	comment	Accuracy of Alfred Edersheim's “Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah” Generally publication date is unrelated to the accuracy of a book’s contents. Furthermore the only way one can know who like’s another person is that they are quoted in a positive light which makes finding a consensus on individuals nearly impossible unless you have read everyone’s books. A Jewish scholar might deny the credibility of Edersheim and N.T. Wright equally. An atheist might dislike Edersheim more and a reformed scholar would poo-poo on N.T. Wright. The differences are not primarily based on ‘discoveries’ but on belief.
May 19	comment	Why was the priestly exam of a woman suspected of adultery not applied to men (Numbers 5:11-31)? Well thought out answer with extra things I have not considered.
May 10	comment	Are there intra-textual supports for a politicized reading of Revelation? @JonEricson - Don't know if you got around to reading this but if you have thought you might like to know a large expanded and very well argued version in four volumes is here. I am reading this and am dumbfounded on how good some of the arguments are. But you have to start atnthe beggining and let him hook you in first, then he overwhelmes with unexpected additional proofs that just get plain incredible. I wish somebody tipped me on to this a long time ago: archive.org/details/horaeapocalypt01elli
May 3	comment	Does the “fear of death” in Hebrews 2:15 refer to the dread of physically dying, or to something else? @Joseph - yes. This fear is 'one' of the aspects of their slavery that Christ frees us from. It is one of those bondages that the Devil personally uses to torment those who are subject to his malicious rule.
May 2	comment	Does the “fear of death” in Hebrews 2:15 refer to the dread of physically dying, or to something else? @Joseph - the Greek word fear is like the English one. It is an excited emotion when encountering a powerful force. It originated from the idea 'to flee' it easily extends to panic, or when facing God who is powerful yet loving, reverence. It does not mean subject under.
May 2	comment	Does the “fear of death” in Hebrews 2:15 refer to the dread of physically dying, or to something else? @Joseph - Subjection does not change the meaning for me as that is already understood. Sinners are subject to death and subject to the fear of physical death because it is the entrance into the 'final subjection' of the second death. Same difference to me?
May 2	comment	Does the “fear of death” in Hebrews 2:15 refer to the dread of physically dying, or to something else? @Joseph - I do not think this fear is anything like a holy reverent fear which makes us willingly subject to God - that is liberating fear. This is fear over physically dying (due to the final judgment) and is a tormenting fear of bondage. The two fears are almost opposites. Deliverance versus bondage. Fear of Christ delivers sinners from fear of death. One fear is replaced by a different kind of fear.
Apr 30	comment	Why is the tribe of Dan missing from Revelation 7:5-8? @DanO'Day - great that's better. Cheers.
Apr 30	comment	Why is the tribe of Dan missing from Revelation 7:5-8? @MonicaCellio - I don't know probably all the tribes had their share in some measure of idolatry - possibly Dan was the worst?
Apr 29	comment	What are the limits to the Christological hermeneutic? I agree the hermeneutic certainly applies in this broader sense.
Apr 22	comment	What is the referent of “body of Christ” in 1 Corinthians 11:29? @Soldarnal - I think a hidden part of the exegetical decision is whether one thinks it biblical that disunity potentially triggers punishment by death or publicly disrespecting a church sacrament could potentially bring punishment by death. This assumption significantly effects our view of God's righteous judgment in setting up expected minimum standards in the New Testament.
Apr 13	comment	Why does the Peshitta use the word ‘baptism’ for ‘enlightened’ in Hebrews 6:4? I added a picture of the word enlighten to rule out a copyist mistake. It seems this it was an intentional commentary as @DanO'Day suggested.
Apr 13	comment	Does Paul refer to his past or present evil/sin in Romans 7 nice stream of arguments, all going in the same direction, without anything to suggest contradiction.
Apr 13	comment	How should James 2:18 be translated? good example of 'what we are looking for in a good answer'.
Apr 11	comment	Why does the Peshitta use the word ‘baptism’ for ‘enlightened’ in Hebrews 6:4? +1 - Interesting .. I looked up 10:32 and Peshitta also used 'baptism' there. Maybe the Syriac copiests identified 'knowledge of the truth' as synonomous with baptism? or maybe the words do look alike? Good question.
Apr 8	comment	To what degree is understanding the feelings of a biblical author necessary in exegesis? Ok - thanks for the clarification that does clarify. Cheers.