The Sonnet This book, being mostly sonnets, needs some introduction to the art of the sonnet. Allan’s wife Lynn (who has put this volume together) especially greatly admires the musicality of the sonnet form. Besides the meaning within a sonnet, one of the main pleasures comes from the rhythm patterns and the music it creates.
Paul’s Teachings about Women, Part 7 ******* Specific women mentioned in Acts: Lydia, Damaris, Euodias, and Syntyche ******* Specific women mentioned in Romans: Priscilla, Aquila, and Phebe ******* When it comes to reading about women in the New Testament, one cannot always take as gospel the words on the printed page because they may be
Gender Equality References, Part III ******* Humans in the tabernacle of God with men in the latter days must reflect the divine in a gender-equality society, the qualities of both masculine and feminine equally valued in each individual. A few years ago, an attorney friend sent an email with an attached article about so many
In the Conclusion to this book of Allan’s sonnets and poems, he writes: “Reading, including not only non-fiction and fiction, but also poetry, is the closest thing to true magic that humans possess. It allows us to enter the mind of another person, to see what they see, experience what they feel, and understand their
ST. PAUL’S TEACHINGS ABOUT WOMEN, Part 6 ******* In addition, as we can see from the many examples at the end of this chapter, Paul named many women who were leaders in his churches. He even honored a married couple, Priscilla and Aquilla, mentioning her name first, a sign that she probably was the greater
GENDER EQUALITY REFERENCES, Part II ******* The Tabernacle of God with men in the latter days must live gender-equal ideals among humankind. Jesus demonstrated how to live a life reflecting equality of the sexes. Some religious convictions result in unconditional acceptance of false ideas from scholastic theology, which is a mixture of pagan philosophy and
Allan, a poet at heart, has been writing sonnets and poems since his college days. He writes in his Preface: “When a book of poems is opened, what does the reader hope to find? Generally, we find one wants a poem to have some kind of beauty and meaning. … The purpose of this collection
ST. PAUL’S TEACHINGS ABOUT WOMEN, Part 5 ******* Paul wrote, “There is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). But we must also acknowledge the challenge Paul had in building a Church from two cultures, Hebrew and Greek, both of which were based on hard-core dominance by men.
GENDER EQUALITY REFERENCES, Part I ******* John in Revelation 9:21, “Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” If in the divine, both the bride-wife and the Lamb are righteousness or purity, then they both are equated or the same. Thus, humans in the Tabernacle of God with men in the latter
Beyond the Dam, Sonnets and Poems Allan’s book of Sonnets and Poems, Beyond the Dam, is now available on the websites of Balboa Press, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. (A note about the Kindle version: the format changes depending on how you set it and the best is to change to “view full screen” (the
DANIEL’S PROPHECY OF THE MESSIAH Part III (Daniel 9) ******* Recall, there are three types of days in the Bible: (1) a literal day, (2) a spiritual day, as in the first chapter of Genesis, and (3) a symbolic or prophetic day. Perhaps the most important of all the codes to understanding the apocalyptical portions
PAUL’S TEACHINGS ABOUT WOMEN, Part 4 ******* A PBS program says that all three monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—teach men and women to “love a spouse the way God loves us.” However, today an examination of actuality shows that some men don’t necessarily follow this teaching. Patriarchy contradicts all three faiths, substituting Aristotle’s commanding and
DANIEL’S PROPHECY OF THE MESSIAH Part II (Daniel 9) ******* Determining the Year to Begin the First Advent ******* Continuing as referenced in the previous Blog #34, Daniel 9, verses 20 through 27 presents his prophecy of the Messiah, giving the year he was to begin his ministry and the year he was to be
PAUL’S TEACHINGS ABOUT WOMEN, Part 3 ******* To get a clear picture of Paul’s thought, let’s start with a passage that did not get mistranslated: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). The message
DANIEL’S PROPHECY OF THE MESSIAH ******* Part I ******* Daniel 9, Verses 20 through 27 presents his prophecy of the Messiah at the First Advent, giving the year he was to begin his ministry and the year he was to be “cut off,” or crucified. When Christ Jesus began his ministry, he came “preaching the
PAUL’S TEACHINGS ABOUT WOMEN, Part 2 ******* The purpose of this chapter is to examine what Paul wrote about men and women. To do this, we will have to remove the Aristotelian translating filter to find the Pauline thought in the epistles he did pen or dictate and also to separate the epistles that Paul
DANIEL’S PROPHECY OF THE SANCTUARY, PART II (Daniel 8) ******* We continue with more on the sanctuary from Chapter XI. Subsequently, Daniel sought to know when the sanctuary was going to be restored. The 2300 prophetic days stood for 2300 years, which pointed to a long wait, to the time at the end of days
PAUL’S TEACHINGS ABOUT WOMEN, PART 1 ******* The Apostolic Church began with a continuation of Christ Jesus’ exoneration of women. Men and women prayed together, as when they prayed “with one accord” to be led of God in choosing a replacement for Judas, the traitor (Acts 1:14+). “Multitudes both of men and women” were accepted
DANIEL’S PROPHECY OF THE SANCTUARY, PART I (Daniel 8) ******* Before introducing the sanctuary, it is necessary to remind readers that these blogs began in March, 2021 with Chapter I and have been progressing through the book chapter by chapter. So now, three years later we have arrived at just beyond the halfway point to
GOD is SPIRIT, Part 2 ******* As mentioned before, Wisdom in the Old Testament was discussed as feminine, even as a feminine personification. And Wisdom (sometimes also called by the name Sophia, derived from the Greek word for Wisdom) was associated with Spirit, often also considered to be feminine.[i] Thus Spirit, based upon both ancient
TIME REFERENCE ******* And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and
GOD is SPIRIT, Part 1 ******* God Is Infinite Spirit ******* Besides the names God and Lord God, perhaps Spirit is the next most frequently mentioned name for God in the Scriptures. It appears about forty times in the Old Testament, often as Spirit of God or Spirit of the Lord, with Spirit either capitalized
TIME REFERENCE ******* Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. (Revelation 1:3) ******* There are of course many TIME references in Breakthrough Analysis of Daniel’s Prophecies but there are a few references when there
GOD is TRUTH, Part 2 ******* So how does what these men of authority who have written about God as Truth relate to how we view women? ******* Thomas Aquinas, for the most part, was brilliant in expressing theology, but his views of women were contaminated by ancient Greek mythology, especially, Aristotle’s works. He began
GOD is SPIRIT ******* So, to the question again: How does prophecy work? When one’s thought is so spiritual that it is living in “eternal life” (Romans 2:7), in “the mind of the Spirit” (Romans 8:27), in the forever NOW, one sees things as God sees them. Then when that one translates the language of
GOD is TRUTH, Part 1 ******* God as absolute Truth references throughout Championing Womanhood ******* Athanasius (298? – 373), Bishop of Alexandria — Defence Before Constantius, the divine referred to as Truth. St. Basil the Great (329? – 379), Archbishop of Caesarea — “He is Himself truth….” St. Augustine (354-430) — Confessions. God being
GOD is TRUTH ******* By turning away from physicality to God, Daniel’s consciousness rose to its zenith—as can be seen throughout the book of Daniel—enabling him at various times to see into the “eternal now” and to explain certain aspects of eternal Truth in such terms that humans could comprehend them at the appointed time.
GOD is MIND, Part 2 ******* We continue with how this understanding of God as Mind affects our view of women: So if God is divine Mind, is Deity masculine, feminine, or both? Today, those in the West who need not subjugate women to psychologically justify their own self-worth recognize that women can think as
GOD is MIND, Part 1 ******* Let us examine from Chapter 5 several names for God as they have developed over the millenniums and how they have been interpreted. God as Divine Mind … Over the centuries of the Christian era, a number of both Catholic and Protestant theologians and literacy scholars have addressed Deity
GOD is MIND ******* In his lengthy poem Paradise Lost (1667), John Milton wrote these lines: The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. (Book I, lines 254 and 255) If Milton is correct, perhaps then that salvation comes by exchanging the mortal