Tag: timeline
What is the ‘Son of Man’? The Paradox at Jesus’ Trial
The Bible uses several titles in referring to Jesus. The most prominent is ‘Christ’, but it also uses ‘Son of God‘ and ‘Lamb of God‘ regularly. However, Jesus often refers to himself as ‘Son of Man’. What does this mean and why does he use this term? It is in the trial of Jesus that…
The Dead Sea Scrolls and Old Testament Reliability
We previously looked at the basic principles used in the discipline of Textual Criticism. We then applied these principles to the New Testament. By these measures the New Testament reliability exceeds that of any other ancient book. But what about the books of the Old Testament? Are they as reliable and unchanged as the New…
Sign of the Branch: Like the Persistent Bodhi Tree for Everybody
The Bodhi, Bodhi Fig, or Bo Tree (Ficus Religiosa) is among the most revered trees for Buddhists. It was under the Bodhi Fig Tree that Siddharta Gautama achieved enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in Bihar, India. King Ashoka, a devout follower of the Buddha, built a Temple complex, the Mahabodhi Temple, around the Bodhi Tree. Thus, this site…
Where does ‘Christ’ of Jesus Christ come from?
Buddha Gautama and Jesus Christ are often compared as founders of two world religions. They are also similar in another important respect – one which gives rise to some misunderstanding. Many people assume that the term ‘Buddha’ forms part of the name for Gautama Buddha. In reality his name was Siddharta Gautama. The term ‘Buddha’ associated with…
How did we get the ancient Holy texts we read today?
The Bible and the Tripitaka, or the Three Baskets, share much in common. They are both sacred ancient texts. They were also written in languages that are not common today so they usually need to be translated. The books of the Bible were written in Greek and Hebrew. However, the Buddhist scriptures were originally set…
What was the History of the Jews?
Jews have a long past, and they have particularly influenced Asian history. Consider just one example. Karl Marx, who conceived and promoted communism as an economic and political theory in Europe was Jewish. His ideas spread from Europe to Asia, which witnessed the Mao-led Communist revolution in China. Then communist takeovers of North Korea and…
Confronting the Great Naga-Dragon: History’s Beginning, but Looking To Its End
The serpent or Naga has deeply entrenched itself in Asian folklore, art and mythology. It rivals the dragon which shares many similarities with the serpent in mythology. Both Asian mythology as well as the Hebrew Scriptures group the naga and the dragon together. The Hebrew scriptures also records a confrontation between the serpent/dragon and the…
Now Corrupted… Like Orcs of Middle-Earth
We saw how the Bible portrays ourselves and others – that the Creator God originally made us in His Image. But the Hebrew Scriptures record how we then disobeyed the Creator God, giving rise to Kleshas in all of us. The Psalms are a collection of sacred songs and hymns used by the ancient Hebrews…