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Enoch was written in the 2nd temple period and not written by the actual Enoch. "Enoch" wrote about a 364 day solar calendar that was observationally wrong.

Assuming for a minute that Salem = Jerusalem, then Melchizedek is a Jebusite priest-king. We know Jebusites controlled Jerusalem before being conquered by David (2 Sam 5:6-16). And we have an example of another name quite similar to Melchizedek, a certain Adonizedek, who was also a Canaanite...

Yea, I agree it's written there for a reason, even if that reason is obscure to us now. It's one of those weird and puzzling passages, and I had to dig through some commentaries some time ago to run across the explanation I gave (I think it was in Dale Allison's critical commentary on Matthew)...

I don't know I can say that "God has given me this understanding", but I do have a comment that may be helpful. It seems to be related to something in Zech 14:4-5. Some ancient interpreters thought these verses in Zechariah were referring to the resurrection of the dead and the messiah's...

I don't think one method is superior to the other. Both have their time and place.

In a field like this, "consensus," though useful, doesn't convey much information. This may be surprising, but what matters here are arguments, not "consensus." Where consensus is useful in this field is to figure out why some smart people are coming to a "consensus" and see if those argument...

I think Matthew was probably a converted scribe or Pharisee. He may include an autobiographical note in Matt 13:52 and Matthew in particular includes some of the harshest criticisms of scribes and Pharisees. It may be that "Matthew" converted to Christianity, many/most of his peers disagreed...

Not all modern scholars believe in "Q." Mark Goodacre at Duke, for example, subscribes to the Farrer Hypothesis: http://www.markgoodacre.org/Q/farrer.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farrer_hypothesis Point being, "Q" is not a conclusive framework of gospel authorship.

That's been my experience. In my experience, too many continuationists seem to want a theological license for disorder, chaos, incoherence, and performative ritual. That aside, God can do what he wants. I suppose that would make me some sort of continuationist in the most technical sense...

Yea, I'd say in many cases the Torah addresses human behavior and the human condition as it is, vs how it would be in an ideal world. In many of those cases, it also lays the groundwork for a correct morality. So for polygamy (and divorce), though it permits and regulates them (and for...

In fact, the king specifically was not to marry "many wives" according to the laws of the king (Deut 17:14-20); and Solomon specifically seems to have flagrantly violated the laws of the king in Deut 17. Around the time of Jesus, at least some Jews interpreted this passage as a prohibition of...

Also Deut 24:16 "Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.

It's not explicitly condemned in the OT. In some cases it was even mandated (Levirate marriage: Deut 25:5-10). What we can say though is that Jesus endorsed monogamy and rooted his reason in the OT (see my post above).

In Jesus' comments on divorce in Matt 19, he used the same verses from the OT that the Qumran community used to justify monogamy (CD 4.20-21; see also: Jesus' Old Testament Basis for Monogamy). Like the Jews at Qumran, Jesus appealed to the created order in the creation of man and woman and the...

What does this have to do with anything at all?

Yea, recall the same hubbub in the 2006 Lebanon War. Every time, someone inevitably comes along to proclaim or suggest the end times. It's basically like clockwork. It's almost liturgy for some.

Yea, sounds reasonable to me. I've discovered that most people slowly and quietly back away from it once they discover that, according to this sect, the angels are literal stars who led mankind into sin by abandoning a 364 day solar calendar, this sect was the "elect" (with secret knowledge...

Do you agree that one of the chief sins of the ungodly was the use of the wrong calendar? Do you use a 364 day solar calendar and agree with and observe Qumran/Enoch/Jubilees halakah? I suggest that the seemingly familiar concepts of "sin", "elect", "judgment", etc...are not the same as that...

I think it's because it contains seemingly familiar concepts and themes that are common to both Christianity and that particular sect, and many people don't' realize the book's sectarian nature. Most people skip over the boring parts of Enoch having to do with calendars and such, not realizing...

I think it's pretty interesting that there were Pharisees at all in Christianity. We usually think of those guys as opposed to Jesus, but there are some there in Acts, counted among the believers. What was their deal? I also note that Luke, author of Acts, presents the Pharisees a little...