Answer by John Mackay The word Maundy is an English devolution of the old Latin word ‘mandate’. It’s connection with the Thursday before Easter is found in John 13:31 onwards where we read that at the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples that “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; […]
Category: Language
HERMENEUTICS? Can we read Genesis without using hermeneutics that require 6 days to be literal?
Answer By John Mackay The background to this question is: Recently I ran a teachers’ conference in a large school. One teacher asked: “There are many Christians who believe in millions of years, so how do we incorporate this into our Christian schooling?” When challenged that a Christian should be more interested in what the […]
BIOLOGOS stated Noah’s flood was only a local event and is only a theological story. What do you think?
The original question was: I read on the BioLogos website that Noah’s flood was only a local event, and is really a theological story. I have also heard the claim that the Flood was a local event from other sources, including those who claim to be evangelical Christians. Why do you claim it was world-wide? […]
MOUNTAINS? Are the high hills and mountains in Genesis 7 the same?
The original question was: In Genesis 7 God first refers to the high hills being covered, and then to the mountains being covered. Do high hills and mountains have the same meaning in this context? Answer by John Mackay The King James Version of Genesis 7:19-20 reads: Verse 19: And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon […]
GOD’S NAME? Why do some people pronounce God’s name as Yahweh and others say Jehovah?
GOD’S NAME? Why do some people pronounce God’s name as Yahweh and others say Jehovah? Answer by John Mackay In a nutshell, it has to do with three things: 1) Y do we have J? i.e. what is the history of the letter J in the English language. 2) The Jews fear of pronouncing God’s […]
BIBLE: Did Jesus actually write any parts of the Bible?
Answer by John Mackay Jesus is among the few so called founders of a religion – who never left any books, biographies or personal memoirs behind. Not during His earthly lifetime, anyway. He was on this earth as a human for approximately 33 years, from his birth to his crucifixion and resurrection and for some […]
THIRD DAY: Why did Jesus say he would be buried for three days if he died on Friday and rose on Sunday?
The original question was: In Matthew 12:40 Jesus states “Just as Jonah was 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of a whale, so should the son of man be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth” (NKJV) Yet the church says Jesus was buried on a Friday and rose […]
EDEN’S LOCATION? Does it still exist? Biblical Issues
The original question was: If we accept Moses as the author of Genesis then his use of the past tense to describe events such as creation, the fall and the flood, but his use of the present tense to describe the 4 rivers coming out of Eden in Genesis 2, must mean that the Garden […]
HOMOSEXUAL: How is Bible inerrant if the word ‘homosexual’ was not used in the NKJV until 1982?
The original question was: As to Biblical references to the words homosexuals or sodomites, would I be correct in saying that the 1611 King James Version didn’t include either word, until the 1982 New King James Version – a period of 371 years later? Who or what caused the alteration? Why did the alteration take […]
EGYPTIAN PRINCE? Is there evidence Moses was raised in Egypt? Or is this just a Jewish myth?
Answer by John Osgood The answer is yes, and it comes from a rather surprising placename. Sumer is the ancient name for the region better known to most people as Babylonia. The Biblical name for the region is Shinar. It is the region where Genesis records the Tower of Babel was built. Why the difference? […]