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In this post I will be citing from both rabbinic Jewish sources and biblical scholars in respect to the opening word of Genesis 1:1, namely, bereshith. I cite the verse along with the transliteration of the Hebrew so the readers can follow along with the argument: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” Bereshith bara elohim et ha'shamayim wa'et ha'ares The references I will provide demonstrate that the rabbis were perplexed by the opening phrase beres

I quote from Ibn Ezra’s exposition of Psalm 2, which can be accessed here:Ibn Ezra on Psalms 2:1. All emphasis will be mine. 2:1 למה רגשו - הנכון בעיני: כי זה המזמור חברו אחד מהמשוררים על דוד ביום המשחו, על כן כתוב: אני היום ילדתיך, או על המשיח. Why do nations assemble (לָ֭מָּה רָגְשׁ֣וּ - lamah ragshu): What seems correct in my eyes is that this psalm was composed by one of the poets concerning David on the day he was anointed. Therefore, it is written [later in verse

In this post I will cite some of the very early witnesses for the Church’s belief in the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo, that God created all things from nothing. All emphasis is mine. The Shepherd of Hermas (Book II) Commandment 1 On Faith in God. First of all, believe that there is one God who created and finished all things, and made all things out of nothing. He alone is able to contain the whole, but Himself cannot be contained. Have faith therefore in Him, and f

The excerpts cited here have been translated from Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim on The Messiah. All emphasis is mine. Midrashim on The Messiah, Introduction Messiah: articles and midrashim discussing the coming of the Messiah who will in the future come to redeem the people of Israel from their exiles and bring them to the Land of Israel to inherit it and become a distinct nation in the world, and all the events that will occur at the end of days, which are the “birth pangs

According to the book of Mormon, David’s and Solomon’s multiple wives and concubines were an abomination to God, something which he despised: 23 But the word of God burdens me because of your grosser crimes. For behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son. 24 Behold, David and

Contrary to the belief of some, there is not a single verse in the Quran which commands women to wear a hijab in the sense of clothing that is mean to cover their heads and/or faces. Rather, the term hijab is used in the context of veiling, and the mode of veiling differs widely. I list all of the term’s occurrences so the readers can see this for themselves. On two occasion the word is used in reference to a curtain, which a woman uses to keep men from approaching and/or l

I share some of the Islamic traditions, which agree with the Holy Bible that Sarah was Abraham’s sister and that Hagar was the maidservant of Sarah. All emphasis will be mine. (8) Chapter: The Statement of Allah Taa'la: "...And Allah did take Ibrahim as a Khalil." Narrated Abu Huraira: Abraham did not tell a lie except on three occasion. Twice for the Sake of Allah when he said, "I am sick," and he said, "(I have not done this but) the big idol has done it." The (third

I share here some of what the rabbis have written in respect to the great mountain mentioned in Zechariah 4:7. According to the rabbinic interpretation this great mountain is supposed to be the King Messiah. They even connect this text with passages such as Gen. 49:8-12, Isa. 11:1-10, 25:8, 52:7, 13, Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45 and 7:13-14. All emphasis will be mine. Metzudat David on Zechariah 4:7 מי אתה הר הגדול. על מלך גוג יאמר מי אתה וגומ׳ ר״ל מה כח יש בך התחשוב שאתה הר גדול לע

With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) in 1947, we have now found what many believe is the oldest extant interpretation of Isaiah 52:13-53:12. This is due to some of the fragments that were found, which scholars have named the “Self-Glorification Hymn”.Photos of these fragments can be seen by clicking on the following links: 4Q Self-Glorification Hymn – The Dead Sea Scrolls 4Q Self-Glorification Hymn – The Dead Sea Scrolls In these fragments, the unnamed Jewish auth

I will be quoting from the Secrets of the Redemption, Ma'amar HaGeulah by 18th century AD Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal), and translated by Rabbi Mordechai Nissim, published by Feldheim Publishers in 2004. All emphasis will be mine. The Ramchal in Discourse III, Chapter 19, explains:12 Regarding the (two) Mashiachs, it states, “And the scholars (maskilim) will shine like the radiance of the heavens” (Daniel 12:3). These are the two Mashiachs, according to the sod o

In this short post I will be citing excerpts from two early 2nd century writers on Christ’s Deity, the first will be from a Christian and the second from a pagan satirist. All emphasis will be mine. Aristides the Philosopher 2. Since, then, we have addressed you concerning God, so far as our discourse can bear upon him, let us now come to the race of men, that we may know which of them participate in the truth of which we have spoken, and which of them go astray from it.

The religion of Rabbinic Judaism is not the faith proclaimed in the Hebrew Bible, nor is its deity the one true God revealed in the inspired pages of the Old Testament. Rather, rabbinic Judaism is an amalgamation of the diverse pagan, gnostic philosophies and religious systems which the Jews came into contact with. This is why one finds notions akin to the monad, demiurge, pleroma, and the aeons or emanations that were part and parcel of Gnosticism, which Christians histori

Dr. Yehuda Liebes, Professor of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, published an article in Hebrew titled The Angels of the Shofar Blast and Yeshua Sar HaPanim (Jesus, Prince of the Presence), Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought (JSJT) 6, 1987, pp. 171–195. In it he shows that there is an Orthodox Jewish prayer, which is prayed on day of Rosh Hashanah, that actually mentions Jesus Christ by name. Liebes writes: It has surely not escaped the no

In this post I will be referencing two pseudonymous works attributed to St. Clement of Rome. Despite the fact that scholars question the authenticity of these writings, they still serve as an early witness, in fact a 2nd–4th century testimony, to the beliefs of the Christians which composed them. These sources show that the author(s) affirmed the essential Deity of Christ, his Incarnation and personally distinction from the Father and the Spirit, as well as testifying to the

In this post I will be citing from a variety of reputable Protestant commentaries on Matthew 16:18 in regards to Peter being the rock upon which Christ will be building his Church. These commentators utterly reject the Roman Catholic interpretation that Jesus was establishing Peter as the first Pope, leading to the institution of the Papacy and Papal Primacy. This makes their exegesis all that more relevant and important since, despite their rejection of the Catholic view, th

Here I cite snippets from two fourth century AD references affirming the primacy of Rome due to its relationship to Peter, the chief of the holy Apostles. All emphasis will be mine. Athanasius Apologia Contra Arianos (Athanasius), Part I Chapter 2. Letter of Julius to the Eusebians at Antioch. Eusebius and his fellows wrote also to Julius, and thinking to frighten me, requested him to call a council, and to be himself the judge, if he so pleased. When therefore I went up to

We have come to the last section of our multi-part reply to In Anwar’s defense of the Quran’s less than miraculous structure (The Garbled Up Quran Pt. 4). Ali Dashti was not alone in claiming that the Quran contains unfamiliar words. There are Muslims who agree with him. The following list of Quranic words along with Ibn Kathir’s comments highlight this fact. Kalalah (Q. 4:12) Ibn Kathir notes: The Meaning of Kalalah Allah said… Kalalah is a derivative of Iklil; the crown tha

In this section (The Garbled Up Quran Pt. 3), we are going to take a look at some of the many grammatical errors of the Quran. The following list of mistakes is adapted from ‘Abdallah ‘Abd al-Fadi’s book Is the Qur’an Infallible, pp. 171-185, unless noted otherwise. A Nominative Noun That Should Have Been Accusative 5:69 reads: “Surely they that believe, and those of Jewry, and the Sabeans (Saabiuuna)…” The word Sabeans has been wrongly declined. It should have been rendered

We proceed with our series: The Garbled Up Quran Pt. 2. What the Scholars Say In this part of our response we are going to see what the scholars have to say about the coherence and structure of the Quran. Thomas Carlyle, whose comments on Muhammad in Heroes and Hero Worship (1841) are often quoted with approval by Muslims, states in reference to the Quran: “A wearisome confused jumble, crude, incondite, endless iterations, longwindedness, entanglement; most crude incondite-in

The Holy Bible clearly teaches that believers cannot revere and serve any other being as their heavenly Lord apart from YHWH: “None is able to serve two lords (Oudeis dynatai dysi kyriois douleuei), for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one, and despise the other; ye are not able to serve God and Mammon.” Matthew 6:24 Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) “Serve the Lord with fear (douleusate to Kyrio en phobo), and rejoice in him with tre