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Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Messianic Prophecies from the Bible: Links to Several Posts


Recently, there has a major burst of interest in the post on this blog about the messianic prophecy of the Star of Bethlehem.  Christians traditionally have believed that the Old Testament is full of references to Jesus and prophecies about Him.  Jewish scholars, of course, deny this and accuse Christians of misinterpreting scripture.  They say that we take words and phrases out of the context of the surrounding text.  Essentially, they are saying that we are practicing eisegesis.

Eisegesis (εἰς, eis, Greek = “into.”) is the process of interpreting a text or portion of text using one's own presuppositions, agendas, or biases. This is commonly referred to as reading your prior suppositions into the text.

Christian biblical scholars stress the need to practice exegesis of biblical texts and not eisegesis.  (Exegesis ἐξηγεῖσθαι (exegeisthai) The English meaning of this Greek word is “to explain,” or “to interpret.”  The idea is that the interpretation comes from within the text. This comes from the etymology of the word: ek (out) plus egeisthai (to lead), “to lead out.”

So, when Christians search the Old Testament for messianic prophecies about Jesus, are we guilty of practicing eisegesis?  The short answer is no and this is because Jesus Himself told us to do this.

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” John 5:39

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.John 5:46

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.Luke 24:27

Listed below are the messianic prophecies discussed so far on this blog.  There will be others.  Click on the link to go to the post.

The Star of Bethlehem

He Will be Called Out of Egypt

He is the Light of the World

Herod’s Slaughter of the Children of Bethlehem

He Will Be from Nazareth

They Will Give Him Vinegar for His Thirst

A Prophecy Not Yet Fulfilled

He Will be Sold for Thirty Pieces of Silver

He Will Bring Light to the Lands of Zebulon and Naphtali

He Will Die Among the Wicked But be Buried With a Rich Man

God Has a Son
  
His Body Will Not Decay

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

"Labels" vs "Search This Blog"

To search for specific subjects on this blog, you will find the Labels listing to be much more useful than the Search This Blog Gadget.  The labels are listed at the end of the page.  Messianic prophecies shows 16 posts, light bulb jokes, 38, and moral relativism, 8.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Music Comment: Freebird


Freebird by the rock music band Lynyrd Skynyrd is one of the great classic songs in rock music history.  The extended dual guitar instrumental which ends the song is listed as number three on Guitar World’s list of the Greatest Guitar Solos in history.

Readers of this blog know that I comment on songs, books, and movies from a Christian perspective. Christian understandings can be seen in works of art, often with messages not clearly intended by the original artists.  This is sort of like using the work of art as a parable pr allegory to illustrate a deeper meaning.

Freebird is a hauntingly beautiful but ultimately very sad song.  It can be seen as a statement of self absorption.  The singer tells a woman who loves him that he has to move on because “there’s so many places I have to see.”  He tells her not to react “so badly” and that he just has to be free.  He admits that he has no intention to change.  (“Lord knows I can’t change.”) He never asks her if she would like to go with him.

Many people are frightened of, and even unable to make a commitment to another person.  They are emotionally shallow and ultimately concerned only with themselves.  A Christian understanding is that this is the very definition of the Human Problem: the elevation of Self above all else.

The extended guitar riff which ends Freebird can be seen from a Christian perspective as illustrating the world’s wildly distracting influences coming at the individual from all directions.  The distractions can seduce a person and pull them away into unknown territories.

The lyrics of Freebird are here.

 

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Prayer

Pray for Syria and Ukraine.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Another light Bulb Joke: Fatalists

How many fatalists does it take to change a light bulb?
What's the point?  What difference does it make?