Maybe! But also maybe not! Let's dig into the differences. (They definitely are two distinct things.)
Category: Tanakh
On the Origin of Navels and Other Things
Did Adam and Eve have navels is a silly question. But this navel question has troubled theologians forever, because each question comes value-packed with a bunch of other questions, too.
Abraham & Isaac
Once upon a time, in the Bible, God and Abraham were having a conversation. God was explaining how he needed to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham was explaining how he shouldn’t do it.
“Your God Shall Be My God”: The Book of Ruth
In many ways, The Book of Ruth is a gentle echo of The Book of Job. In Job, we witness a righteous man destroyed for a wager who remains unwavering in his faith right up until he asks, "But why?" The Book of Ruth is also about a life interrupted by Divine Intervention. It's Job with a happier ending, but the same unsettling questions about how we interact with God, and how God can interact with us.
Lot & His Daughters, or, Hospitality Gone Terribly Wrong
Imagine. You are fleeing your home. You are fleeing your life. Something extraordinarily violent and horrible and utterly destructive is happening to your city where maybe you had friends. Maybe you had a favorite place to watch the sunset while eating figs. Maybe one of your daughters, or cats, or whoever, is left behind.
“An Infinity of Silence”: The Book of Job
One of my favorite passages in the entire Bible is Job 42:3: "Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."
Satan & Scripture
Is the serpent in the garden Satan? Is the serpent quoting scripture? Is Satan evil? I do my best to look at these three questions.
The Book I’m Not Reading
I own a not insignificant number of copies of Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, the best novel ever written in the English language. As a Christian who is saved in Christ (I think?), this fact, and God's eternal love, are the two things I can depend on.