The Genesis Flood and the Atrahasis Epic

Posted on 27 February, 2012 by Jon Gleason

The Bible in the British Museum

© Trustees of the British Museum

The Atrahasis Epic is an account from Babylon of the creation of the world and a great, world-wide flood in which all of mankind died except for one family.  They escaped on a boat after being warned by one of the gods.

The most complete record of the epic is about 1200 lines on three stone tablets, dating from the 17th century BC (perhaps 200 years before the time of Moses).

There are significant similarities between the Atrahasis Epic and the Genesis account of the flood — enough to cause widespread scholarly discussion.  Nor is this the only ancient record of a world-wide flood which destroyed all of mankind.

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Lacking Credibility with Bible-Believing Christians

Posted on 25 February, 2012 by Jon Gleason

The Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone, has addressed an article to those opposed to homosexual marriage:

Who owns marriage? It’s an interesting question and a pressing one in the debate around equal civil marriage. It is owned by neither the state nor the church, as the former Archbishop Lord Carey rightly said. So it is owned by the people.

God thought of marriage, designed and created it, and told us to rejoice in it.  Marriage belongs to Him.  Ms Featherstone has left God completely out of the discussion, and this article only goes downhill from there….

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My Song is Love Unknown

Posted on 24 February, 2012 by Jon Gleason 
My song is love unknown,
     My Saviour’s love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
     That they might lovely be.
O who am I,
     That for my sake
     My Lord should take
Frail flesh and die?

-Samuel Crossman (1664)

Entire text at Cyberhymnal.  Our book has five of the verses, and we sing it to the tune CALKIN.

What is your song?

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Letter to a Shipwrecked Christian

Posted on 23 February, 2012 by Jon Gleason

Robert Cobb at News For Christians wrote a short sermon on I Timothy 1:19 titled “The Shipwreck of your Faith.”  He received (and posted) a letter from a “shipwrecked” pastor, who pastored for 24 years, and then had an affair — and his entire life fell apart.  Please read both the letter and the sermon.

Not every shipwrecked Christian was a pastor — many have crashed on the rocks.  Maybe you lost your job by your actions, or destroyed your marriage and family through pornography or other kinds of immorality.  Maybe you were put out of a church.  Maybe, like this former pastor, you feel guilty every time you go to church.  You’ve shipwrecked.  There is no way back, no way to undo the damage.  This letter is for you.

Maybe you haven’t “shipwrecked.”  Unless you haven’t sinned anytime in the last 30 years, there’s probably something here for you, too.

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Scotland’s Longest Marriage

Posted on 23 February, 2012 by Jon Gleason

The longest marriage in Scotland ends after more than seventy-seven years.

I have got a lovely boy in the home. He is the only one for me — always has been and always will be.

May the God of all comfort be near to Mrs Davidson in her remaining days on this earth.  May their example challenge others to faithfulness.

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Entitlement / God Isn’t Fair

Posted on 22 February, 2012 by Jon Gleason

Following on briefly today from yesterday’s post on why bad things happen.  (If you came here for that post, welcome!)  I touched on the fact that God isn’t fair, and it is a good thing for us that He isn’t, or we would get what we deserve.  I ran into this comment this morning:

I don’t deserve a breath of life, a crumb of food, a drop of water, a stitch of clothing, a cent in my wallet, or an hour of education.  

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Why do Bad Things Happen?

Posted on 21 February, 2012 by Jon Gleason

Some months back, I was one of the recipients of an email from a co-worker’s relative.  He was writing about an accident which had happened to someone else, and it triggered thoughts related to his own earlier accident.  Some of the questions he asked:

  • I am trying to figure out “God’s plans” — but am I supposed to or not?
  • Some of the bad things that happen to us just don’t seem fair.  Did God plan those things?
  • Why doesn’t God step in when tragedy or evil is among us and stop whatever bad thing is going to happen?
  • It was tough to hear my pastor say, as we prayed together, that God was with me when my accident happened.  If so, why didn’t He stop it?

Good questions, indeed.  If God is good, why doesn’t He stop bad things from happening to His people?  Does He really have a plan for me, and if so, what is it, and why does it include bad things?  Is God fair?

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