Crossing the Jordan–An Extended Book Review/Reflection of Jordan Peterson’s “12 Rules for Life” (Part 2: Ideologies and the Power of Myth)

Based on Jordan Peterson’s various lectures and debates, if I was to crystalize what I felt he was really all about at a fundamental level, it would have to be these two things: (1) Peterson really, really does not like it when people hold a blind allegiance to any particular ideology—he sees that as dehumanizing…

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Crossing the Jordan: An Extended Book Review/Reflection of Jordan Peterson’s “12 Rules for Life” (Part 1)

Now that summer is coming to a close, my son will soon be back in school and I will be getting back into my routine as an adjunct instructor at my local university, as well as to being able to get back to writing on my blog with a bit more consistency again. In addition…

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Ken Ham’s Cruel Boasting Over the Loss of Gungor’s Faith

Over the past four months, I have written precisely one blogpost related to Ken Ham, AiG, or young earth creationism. That’s right—only one. The reason why is fairly simple: after 2 ½ years of writing about it, I finally got to the point where there wasn’t much else to say. When it is all said…

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The Jewish War Series (Part 20): The Conclusion to the War; The End of John of Gischala and Simon ben-Gioras

On the 20th day of Ab (mid-late August) Titus ordered his army to raise the banks further against the upper city, on the west side of the city over against the royal palace. It was at this time that the Idumean commanders who had allied themselves with Simon ben-Gioras throughout the war conspired to surrender…

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The Jewish War Series (Part 19): Neglected Signs of Judgment and Failed Negotiations

The lower city had been largely taken earlier. The Temple Mount was now in Roman hands, and the Temple itself had been burned to the ground. All throughout the Temple precincts there were over 10,000 Jewish bodies littering the ground, and the entire day had been filled with a cacophony of Roman cries of victory…

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The Jewish War Series (Part 18): Titus Destroys the Temple

Every day the zealots, although holed up within the inner court of the Temple, fought off the Roman soldiers who were at the gates and on the banks. Then, on the 27th day of Tamuz (mid-July), the zealots hatched yet another plot. They filled the western cloister with dried material, and then in sight of…

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The Jewish War Series (Part 17): The Taking of the Tower of Antonia and Battles in the Temple Precincts

By the first day of Tamuz (mid-July), the stench of death and pestilence filled the city. It was then that the zealots fully came to realize that there was no hope of victory, and so instead of surrendering, they resolved to inflict as much brutality on the Jews trapped within Jerusalem’s walls as they held…

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The Jewish War Series (Part 16): The Famine Within the Walls Grows Worse

Although the Roman siege continued to take its toll on those inside Jerusalem, Titus began to look for ways to hasten its end. And so, he decided to tighten the screws further on the Jews by setting up soldiers to ambush any Jews, be they zealot or civilian, who ventured out of the city to…

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A Book Review of “In the Beginning” by Lawrence R. Farley

The ever-present creation/evolution debate, along with the intense debate regarding the proper interpretation of Genesis 1-11, is not going away anytime soon. Over the past three years, I’ve written my share of blog posts analyzing and criticizing Ken Ham and his YECist organization Answers in Genesis, and even have written a book entitled The Heresy…

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The Jewish War Series (Part 15)–May 70 AD: Josephus’ Appeal and the Miseries to Which the Zealots Inflicted Upon the People

After taking the second wall and pushing the zealots back deeper into the upper city and the temple complex, Titus relaxed the siege for a short time, to see if the zealots were willing to finally surrender. Surely, they had to see their days were numbered. And, in order to demoralize the zealots even more,…

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