Author: David Ellis

With the demise of the dinosaurs, earth became humanity’s oyster. With Tyrannosaurus rex out of the picture, we were free to scurry down from the trees or crawl out of our caves to explore the world and get on with the business of not just surviving, but of developing our culture, and doing so in…

A note on citations: In preparing this talk I cited the sources for some of my assertions in endnotes. WordPress has stripped them out here. For anyone who wants to see them, I will send a PDF file that includes the citations and endnotes. I’d post it here as a downloadable link, but I don’t…

PrefaceBefore I begin, I want to say that I was greatly enlightened by Kiran’s history of Adventism in class last week. Afterwards, I was further enlightened, not to say shocked, when I watched the Ty Gibson video Kiran mentioned. All that enlightenment came at the cost of some dismay. It made me see that many…

Good morning, and thank you for joining me once again as we continue to navigate the intricate and often challenging terrain of the Book of Revelation. As I said last week, I am no theological expert on this complex text, and though I’ve come to appreciate Dr. Weaver’s warning about the “theological challenges” scattered throughout…

Fig. 1. Site of the coming final battle between Good and Evil: Tel Megiddo (a.k.a. Armageddon), containing archaeological remains from the Bronze and Iron Ages. Source: Avram Graicer – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36308008 Good morning, and thank you for this opportunity to explore what global scriptural prophecies—particularly those from the Bible and most…

Divinity refers to the quality or state of being divine or godlike. It can encompass broader concepts, not just the nature, powers, or essence of gods, but also abstract universal principles such as a “divine energy”. So a divinity may be a specific, personal being or just something that is beyond human or material, such…

We often say, among ourselves, that this is a wicked world (except, of course, for the perfectly pious bit we occupy and have control over!) But is it true? I am going to assume a debating stance, arguing both for and against the motion that this is a wicked world, and then invite you all…

As most of you know, Dr. Weaver, Kiran, Michael and I are putting together a book on grace based largely on Dr. Weaver’s talks in class, but also informed by your contributions in our class discussions.  Inevitably, the book has a Christian theological bent. It is based largely on the Bible, because this is after…

The Bible is a complex and multifaceted text, reflecting the diverse socio-historical contexts and times in which its various books were written. In studying it, many have found a tension between, on the one hand, a seemingly judgmental God who operates on the principle of cause and rational effect—rewarding obedience and punishing disobedience; and, on…