An excerpt from: Romans 6-8: The “law of the Spirit” and Spiritual maturity (Part 2) The Neshamah In the Genesis account of the creation of Adam, the Nefesh of Adam although formed, was not yet made alive and active until God implanted the “Neshamah” within it: “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of […]
An excerpt from: Romans 6-8: The “law of the Spirit” and Spiritual maturity (Part 2) The “Two inclinations” The Hebrew text of Genesis 2:7 contains an apparent misspelling. This is both intriguing and catastrophic since a true error in Holy scripture can only represent a monumental threat to the doctrine of its infallibility. Therefore, when […]
An excerpt from: Romans 6-8: The “law of the Spirit” and Spiritual maturity (Part 2) The “Nefesh” All sensation felt and experienced through the body is regarded as occurring within the realm of the “Nefesh.” Although it can be considered generally correct to consider the Nefesh as a reference to the physical body, the use of […]
Ger Toshav The God-Fearer The Christian Ger Toshav The Torah reserves several distinct terms for the Foreigner. The designation most used is “Ger” derived from the verb “Gur” meaning “to dwell.” Ger therefore identifies an outsider, or a group, living with unfamiliar company. The first use of the term is found in Genesis 15. Abraham […]
The book of Genesis and Middos Sh’lemut (Wholeness) and Godly Middos Leviticus 7:18, Hypocrisy, and Ceremonial law Middos and the Fruit of the Spirit The book of Genesis and Middos A commonly held understanding is that the primary aim of the Torah is to preserve the commandments. If this is so, the sages would inquire: […]
Written Torah Hashkafic Arguments Hashkafah is best presented in the form of an argument. Each argument, in turn, consists of a number of premises that present the substance of the argument in a point-by-point manner. Each premise is justified by a reference to a Hashkafic principle. The structure of an argument follows this structure: Hashkafic […]
Hashkafah type 1: Written Torah Hashkafah List of Hashkafah Hashkafaic Arguments
Hashkafah The Hashkafah of the Prophets Hashkafah informs Halachah Jesus, the Sabbath, and the Hashkafah of Hillel Hashkafah and doctrine Hashkafah as an interface Hashkafah Hashkafa has the connotation of an outlook from a high position: “Look down [Hashkifa] from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us […]
The challenge with Paul’s Epistles, is that a comprehensive study requires tedious examination of specific concepts and terminology that can only be understood within the context of Paul’s writings as a whole. For this reason, when expounding on the epistles, I find that monumental effort is almost always spent to simply untangle the concepts from […]
On the day of June 28, 2017, the news reported a man in Arkansas arrested for destroying a monument of the 10 commandments with his car. Incriminating evidence found online unwittingly posted by the perpetrator himself helped the authorities identify him. A video was posted of the driver revving his engine, screaming “freedom!” before ramming […]