Religious

Ezra

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Background

Ezra is found in the Old Testament of King James Bible. Originally Ezra was combined with Nehemiah and is the last book(s) of the Hebrew Bible. Cyrus and later Darius (kings of Persia) allow the Jews to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Ezra prays and gets the people back on track…

Ezra
Ezra

My Thoughts

As this is the first time I’ve included scripture in this blog, I wanted to give a quick reference as to why. I read scripture daily though it is only a chapter or 2. There are times I jump around but I’ve been plowing through the Old Testament recently. My current intent is to finish it but I’ve been known to be distracted…

The book of Ezra is hard to keep straight because it isn’t in chronological order. Lots of genealogy is listed (“Of the sons of…”) and it really doesn’t flow. This is definitely a book that it was helpful to do a little background reading while I was reading.

Recommendations

Find yourself a good Bible study guide and have fun!

Books that Matter: The City of God

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Background

Yet another of the Great Courses lectures. This one was by Charles Mathewes, Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.

To steal from the Great Courses page “Augustine of Hippo’s magnum opus The City of God is one of the greatest works of the Western intellectual tradition—so powerful, in fact, that one could argue all of Christian theology has been a series of footnotes to Augustine. Written during the transition from antiquity to the rise of Christianity, it is one of the key texts in defining our ethical framework into the 21st century. Yet even serious readers can be intimidated by a book that spans over 1,000 pages.”

Books that Matter: The City of God
Books that Matter: The City of God

My Thoughts

This was a pretty time consuming listen though I feel it was worth it. Pretty much most of the “ah hah” moments I’d had were discussed by Augustine of Hippo or “Saint Augustine” as we’ve likely heard of him. This lecture points out that not much is “new under the sun”. The ancients were pretty bright and most of the drama that we take on a daily basis had all been done before.

Recommendations

This work left my mind reeling a few times. If you can understand it all then you should start your own church. (You won’t be alone out there…)