Biblically Compatible Archaeology and Geography

  by   Damien F. Mackey           N. Grimal refers to another Aha (that being the name of Abraham’s proposed contemporary, Hor-Aha) as living at the same time as Khety II.       The king of Egypt at the time of Abram (Abraham) I have identified, e.g. in my article:   From Genesis to Hernan Cortes. Volume Four: Era of Abraham   https://www.academia.edu/41229801/From_Genesis_to_Hernan_Cortes._Volume_Four_Era_of_Abraham   as the first ruler of the First Dynasty, the very long-reigning Menes Hor-Aha (‘Min’). And I have been able - following the structure of the Book of Genesis ( toledôt and chiasmus) - to link that ruler with Abimelech known to Abram (Genesis 20:2) and to Isaac (26:1).     Whilst Abimelech ( אֲבִימֶ֙לֶךְ֙ ) is a Hebrew name, meaning “ My Father is King”, I noted that it had a structure and meaning rather similar to that of the supposed...

  by   Damien F. Mackey       “To take the Genesis account as historical information … its value is simply nil in informing us about what happened “in the night of times”.”   M. Lagrange       Dr. Dominque Tassot, writing an article, “The Influence of Geology on Catholic Exegesis”, for the Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation, tells us something about the opinions of M. Lagrange: http://kolbecenter.org/the-influence-of-geology-on-catholic-exegesis/   …. On June 30, 1909, the Pontifical Biblical Commission granted liberty to Catholic exegetes to consider the word “yom” either in its proper meaning or in a broader meaning ( sensu improprio ) of indeterminate duration ( DS 2128). In 1896, Fr Lagrange (who had founded Jerusalem’s Biblical College in 1893) rejected “concordism,” considering that the hexameron days and geological periods did not correspond. The shaping of the Earth went on a long...

    by   Damien F. Mackey     “On another matter, why does St. Mark tell us that Jesus, during the storm he is about to calm, was inside the stern, sleeping on the cushion" and not "at the stern" (where he would have interfered with the maneuvering of the boat)?”   The Association Jean Carmignac       Four quite modern endeavours in the study of Jesus Christ and the Gospels (I can think of), which - whilst generally going against the academic grain - remind us that Jesus was a Jew, that he spoke Hebrew, and that he was influenced by Hebrew tradition and wisdom rather than by pagan Greek thinking.   Regarding the fact that Jesus would have spoken Hebrew, I am indebted to Rev Brenton Minge who personally sent me a copy of his brilliant book, Jesus Spoke Hebrew: Busting the ‘Aramaic’ Myth.   This book I have (poorly) summarised in my series:   Jesus would have spoken Hebrew with a ...