Reflections and meditations about the Bible by Peter DeHaan, PhD.
While the New Testament of the Bible has small phrases or scattered verses that are not found in all of the ancient manuscripts, the Old Testament has a slightly different issue of inclusion or exclusion, which mostly relates to entire books. Here’s the short version of what happened. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. […]
In The Error of the Sadducees and Pharisees, it was noted that the Sadducees’s error was taking away from the Bible, dismissing or ignoring certain sections. Paul notes that the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, angels, and spirits, even though all are addressed in the Old Testament. In order to challenge or trick Jesus, […]
In The Error of the Sadducees and Pharisees, it was noted that the Pharisees’ mistake was adding to the Bible and then esteeming their additions as more important. Jesus notes that they break God’s commands in order to keep their own, man-made traditions (that is, the religious rules they added to the Bible). He then […]
Two thousand years ago, the Jewish religious scene was comprised of two major factions, the Sadducees and Pharisees. Although their respective theologies about God were quite different, these two camps did coexist—albeit not harmoniously—within the same religion. The reason for their different perspectives of the same God, likely comes from how they treated the Bible. […]
There are several places in the Bible that talk about seeking God’s favor. In reading these sections it becomes clear that when people seek God’s favor, good things result; when they don’t, bad things result. For example, Hezekiah sought God’s favor and disaster was averted, whereas the Jewish people did not seek God’s favor and […]
Are You Highly Esteemed? Do you ever wonder what God thinks of you? Unfortunately, I suspect that most people who consider such a question reach the wrong conclusion. But what if an angel were to show up and provide a supernatural perspective about you? It’s happened: An angel tells Daniel that he is “highly esteemed.” […]
The God who is revealed in the Bible is number one. Consider these explanations of who he is in comparison to all else: Quite simply, God is over all and above all. He is numero uno. He is the Best of the best. So what should be our response?
Another Thought about Predestination Another curious thing with Daniel’s prayer is that he may not have even needed to make it. After all, God, through Jeremiah, foretold that the nation would be in captivity for 70 years and then return. The seventy years are about up; it is time to go home. God decreed it, […]
The ninth chapter of Daniel records a curious prayer of Daniel. One thing that is strange is Daniel confesses things he never did. He personally accepts the errors of former generations, identifying with the wayward actions of his country. It is as if Daniel, though innocent in this regard, takes on himself the faults and […]
You may know about Daniel, the guy noted for spending the night with a bunch of hungry lions and emerging the next morning unscathed. The bigger story is that as a youth he was captured by an invading army, forcibly relocated to Babylon, stripped of his culture, indoctrinated with new philosophies, and forced to work […]