Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Jonah Comic Book in Hebrew with audio

For all you Hebrew students,

MVGH has just posted a link to a great Hebrew resource.

Finally a comic book that reads out the Bible in Hebrew!

You can go directly to the comic here.

Enjoy,
D

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Old Testament Rap: 'Solomon to 2nd Temple'



I wrote this for all those trying to get a better understanding of the Old Testament History from Solomon to the 2nd Temple.
Enjoy
D

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Council Estate Christians 16: Physical violence

One of the issues we face on our estate is the threat of physical violence. Sometimes this can be totally unprovoked (as 2 of our church members found a week ago).

Because of this, I think Psalm 7:1-2 is a very useful prayer, and I especially like Brenton's translation of the LXX (Septuagint) on this:

Psalm 7:1 O Lord my God, in thee have I trusted: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me. 2 Lest at any time the enemy seize my soul as a lion, while there is none to ransom, nor to save.


I like this for three reasons:

1) The Street talk in v.1 “from all them” (we would say "dem").

2) The translation “lest at any time” in v.2 which implies that this prayer is prayed in advance, just in case at any time someone might attack him.

3) The image of there being no-one around to save him (v.2) is a familiar idea on a council estate. One minute you can be walking in safety with a bunch of people, the next minute you’re on your own and walk into a dodgy situation. It's good to pray that God would protect us in these situations.

We don't know when the next time is that one of us will be in a dodgy situation, but we can pray this prayer each day, and walk around trusting in God.

Friday, March 06, 2009

Wesley thinks you should be learning Greek and Hebrew at Seminary

Biblical languages are becoming less popular, and often not compulsory for Theology degrees.
I saw this quote from Wesley on Ray Ortlund's blog and thought it was relevant considering conversations and thoughts I have been having lately about getting your money's worth from Seminary:
"Do I understand Greek and Hebrew? Otherwise, how can I undertake, as every Minister does, not only to explain books which are written therein but to defend them against all opponents? Am I not at the mercy of everyone who does understand, or even pretends to understand, the original? For which way can I confute his pretense? Do I understand the language of the Old Testament? critically? at all? Can I read into English one of David's Psalms, or even the first chapter of Genesis? Do I understand the language of the New Testament? Am I a critical master of it? Have I enough of it even to read into English the first chapter of St. Luke? If not, how many years did I spend at school? How many at the University? And what was I doing all those years? Ought not shame to cover my face?"

John Wesley, "An Address to the Clergy," in Works X:491.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

A book I would recommend for last year's Greek class, and anyone else studying Theology

This is a great book, that gives very useful advice on how to study Theology in a godly way, and how to go back to your church having studied Theology.

A Little Exercise for Young Theologians

Enjoy,
Duncan