Judaism

Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish Bibles, Commentaries, and Cultural Backgrounds
Biblical Interpretation

Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish Bible Translations, Commentaries, and Cultural Backgrounds

10/15/2026 Bruce Strom 0

The eternal spiritual battle is this struggle: Who is going to influence whom? Will the culture influence the church, or will the church influence the culture? If you prefer that the culture would influence your morality, then you can ask Merriam-Webster Dictionary for the cultural definition of Biblical words. If you would rather that the church would influence your morality, then you should ask the Vines Expository Dictionary for the Biblical definition of Biblical words.
Although Vines is a Protestant resource, all Christians can consult its definitions, since it quotes the Scriptures that support their definitions. Another resource is Strong’s Concordance, which tracks where each Greek and Hebrew word appears in the Bible. If necessary, you can discover the Greek word for each word in each verse using an Interlinear Bible.
What is the meaning of the central Christian word for love? Agape and Eros by the Lutheran Theologian Anders Nygren, written between the two World Wars, traces how the Greek words LOVE, agape and eros, evolved from the ancient Greek philosophers and the New Testament until modern days. […]

Biblical Interpretation: How the Ancient World and Modern World Differ
Biblical Interpretation

Biblical Interpretation: How the Ancient World and Modern World Differ

10/15/2026 Bruce Strom 0

St Augustine did not believe that the Bible was always literally true. He teaches: “It is a wretched slavery which takes the figurative expressions of Scripture in a literal sense,” because the Bible exhorts: “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” What does St Augustine mean by figurative? When the Word of God in Scripture does not, “when taken literally, refer either to purity of life or soundness of doctrine, it can be seen as figurative.” St Augustine continues, “Purity of life refers to the Love of God and our love for our neighbor, whereas soundness of doctrine refers to the knowledge of God and our neighbor.”
St Augustine agrees with Origen and many other Church Fathers, that whenever the literal reading of Scriptures, particularly the Old Testament, appears to violate the two-fold Love of God and neighbor, then it must be read allegorically. […]

Should Morality Trump Theology? Why We Are Not Reflections in Theology and Philosophy
Biblical Interpretation

Does Morality Trump Theology? Why My Channel Is Not Named Reflections in Theology and Philosophy

09/16/2026 Bruce Strom 1

The main reason why I prefer the word Morality over Theology is that today most people use theology to prove why their denomination is the true religion; and is thus superior to all other denominations, especially if they are converts. However, I am reluctant to condemn this: doesn’t everyone want to cheer their chosen football team? Don’t all fans see their chosen team in the best light, while judging all others who hopefully will be on the losing teams this next season?
Mine is the Mere Christianity of CS Lewis. As an Episcopalian, you can be as Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant as you want to be, it is the most ecumenical and tolerant of all the denominations, in my experience. […]

Protestantism, Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Judaism: Which Is True
christianity

Protestantism, Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Judaism: Which Is True?

01/30/2026 Bruce Strom 4

We agree with CS Lewis when, in his Preface to Mere Christianity, he states that “the reader should be warned that I offer no help to anyone who is hesitating between two Christian denominations. You will not learn from me whether you ought to become an Anglican, a Methodist, a Presbyterian, or a Roman Catholic.” CS Lewis compares his Mere Christianity to a central hall opening up to many rooms, representative of the various denominations, saying that this hall is a place to wait while you try the different doors.
CS Lewis continues: “There is no mystery of my own position. I am a very ordinary layman of the Church of England, not especially high, nor especially low, nor especially anything else.” […]

The Decalogue in the Torah and the Book of Legends, Do Not Steal
Command 7 Do Not Steal

The Decalogue in the Torah and the Book of Legends, Do Not Steal

11/06/2025 Bruce Strom 0

The rabbis in the Book of Legends, which are moral excerpts from the Talmud, teach that there are four kinds of men:
The average man, like those in Sodom, who says, “Mine is mine, and your is yours.”
The ignorant man who says, “Mine is yours, and yours is mine.”
The pious man who says, “Mine is yours, and yours is yours.”
The wicked man who says, “Yours is mine, and mine is mine.” […]

St Augustine’s On Christian Teaching and JD Vance, Order of Love
Politics

St Augustine’s On Christian Teaching and JD Vance, Order of Love

07/05/2025 Bruce Strom 0

St Augustine clearly teaches us: “All people should be loved equally. But you cannot do good to all people equally, so you should take particular thought for those who, as if by lot, happen to be particularly close to you in terms of place, time, or any other circumstances.”
St Augustine explains further: “Suppose you have plenty of something which had to be given to someone in need but could not be given to two people, and you met two people,” you could flip a coin for who would receive it. But if one of them was a relative, Jesus would not object if you benefited him. In other words, if your children are starving, you need not share what little food you have with strangers.
Should we love everyone, even our enemies? Definitely, Christians are exhorted to love their enemies. As St Augustine teaches us: “We do not fear our enemies, for they do not take away from us what we love, but we pity them, for they hate us all the more because they are separated from the one we love,” since they are separated from God. […]

Loving God in Deuteronomy, and a Gentile’s Defense of Judaism, Part 2
Judaism

Loving God in Deuteronomy, and a Gentile’s Defense of Judaism, Part 2

12/29/2023 Bruce Strom 2

When studying the rabbinical commentaries on Deuteronomy, I was struck by the number of times the commandment to Love God was repeated in various forms, including the commandment to Fear God, which is roughly equivalent, so I decided to count them, there are about twenty repetitions. This was surprising to me as a Christian, for as St Paul exhorts, “the letter” of the law “kills, but the Spirit gives life.” […]

Medieval Jewish and Christian Commentators, My Gentile Defense of Judaism, Part 1
Judaism

Medieval Jewish and Christian Commentators, My Gentile Defense of Judaism, Part 1

12/23/2023 Bruce Strom 4

At roughly the time of Jesus, an inquirer requested of both Rabbi Shammai and Rabbi Hillel, “Convert me to Judaism on condition that you will teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot.” Shammai pushed the man away with the building rod he was holding. Undeterred, the man then came before Hillel with the same request. Hillel responded, “That which is hateful unto you, do not do unto your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary. Now, go and study.” […]

Q & A on Topic: Why Did You Leave Your Religion?
Biblical Interpretation

Q & A on Topic: Why Did You Leave Your Religion?

09/08/2023 Bruce Strom 1

To the ancients who lived in a warrior culture, Stoic philosophy is very appealing. The Stoics don’t ask the question: Why do bad things happen to good people? Instead, they admit that good and bad things happen to everyone, that the rain falls on both the bad and the good. Bad things happen to good people, that is part of life. The real question is: How can God help us endure and prevail over our suffering? […]

St Neilos the Ascetic, Philokalia
Morality

St Neilos on Ascetic Discourses in the Philokalia

08/16/2023 Bruce Strom 1

St Neilos contrasts the holy men “who live for the soul alone, turning away from the body and its wants,” the holy men who have no need to flatter the wealthy because they live simply, to those of us who, “instead of courageously struggling against our difficulties, come fawning to the wealthy, like puppies wagging their tails in the hope of being tossed a bare bone or some crumbs. To get what we want, we can them benefactors and protectors of Christians, attributing every virtue to them, even though they may be utterly wicked.” […]