The Jewish War Series (Part 6: Vespasian Begins the Roman Advance into Galilee)

By AD 67, the emperor Nero had chosen the old, proven general Vespasian to go in and subdue Judea. Vespasian had a proven war record from his successes in Germania and Britannia. And once chosen by Nero, Vespasian then called for his son Titus to bring the 5th and 10th legions from Alexandria assist him….

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An Extended Analysis of Ken Ham’s Book “Six Days” (Part 4: Genesis, Millions of Years, and Ham’s Affinity for Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher)

In my last post look at his book Six Days: The Age of the Earth and the Decline of the Church, I looked at Ken Ham’s attempt to explain proper biblical exegesis and noted that although Ken Ham correctly explains some of the key principles when it comes to proper exegesis, when the rubber hits…

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An Extended Analysis of Ken Ham’s Book, “Six Days” (Part 3: Biblical Exegesis, Fire-Breathing Dinosaurs, and Why Not Interpreting “Day” as a Literal 24-Hour Day is a Greater Attack on the Gospel Than Denying the Resurrection…yes, Ken Ham really said that)

Chapters 4-5 in Ken Ham’s book, Six Days: The Age of the Earth and the Decline of the Church, is right up my alley, for in them, Ken Ham tries to make the exegetical case for interpreting Genesis 1-11 as literal history. As someone who teaches Biblical Studies for a living, it is fascinating to…

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The Jewish War Series (Part 5: Josephus Secures Galilee, and the Rise of John of Gischala)

Josephus’ Early Challenges in Galilee—and the Emergence of John of Gischala Upon arriving in Galilee, Josephus saw that his work was cut out for him. He was tasked with mobilizing the populace, raising an army, securing the region and building up fortifications throughout the area. And he had to do this in a region that…

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An Extended Analysis of Ken Ham’s Book, “Six Days” (Part 2: Why the Foundation of the Church isn’t Jesus)

In this next post in my series in which I analyze Ken Ham’s book, Six Days, The Age of the Earth and the Decline of the Church, I am going to take a look at the next two chapters in the book. Now for Chapter Two… Having condemned a number of Christian academics who don’t…

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An Extended Analysis of Ken Ham’s Book “Six Days” (Part 1: Blame the Satanic Christian Academics)

It was four years ago that I first really began to pay attention to Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis. It began with writing a number of posts on the Nye/Ham Debate, and it kicked into high gear when I was informed by an over-zealous YECist headmaster that I was no longer a “good fit”…

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The Jewish War Series (Part 4: Cestius’ Attack and Inexplicable Retreat)

Cestius Marches Upon Jerusalem Cestius’ march into Judea was swift and brutal: Antipatris, to Lydda, and soon outside the walls of Jerusalem. Once there, Cestius took a few days to organize his troops and determine a plan of attack. Much to his initial surprise, though, the zealots in Jerusalem proved not to be the most…

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The Jewish War Series (Part 3: Chaos Erupts Throughout the Region; General Cestius Makes a Move in Galilee)

The news of the uprising in Jerusalem quickly spread like wildfire throughout the region, and soon people throughout the entire province of Judea retaliated against the Jews living among them. It didn’t matter whether or not their Jewish neighbors had anything directly to do with the uprising in Jerusalem. The persistent agitation and terrorists acts…

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The Jewish War Series (Part 2: The Bloody Deeds of Menahem the Zealot)

Agrippa’s Soldiers Arrive in Jerusalem; the Festival of Xylophory As soon as Agrippa’s soldiers arrived in Jerusalem, it became clear that regaining control of the entire city immediately was out of the question. And so, they, along with the city leaders and the high priests, were able to take possession of Mt. Zion and the…

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The Jewish War Series (Part 1: The Beginning of the Revolt)

Throughout the rest of this year, I have determined to write my own, more simplified version of Josephus’ account of the Jewish Revolt of AD 66-70. As mentioned in a previous series on my blog involving Jesus and the Olivet Discourse, I believe that at the heart of Jesus’ prophetic declaration during the Passion week…

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