Trent Wilde Blog

The term usually translated "the wicked" in English translations of Hebrew scripture is better translated "wrongdoers." This episode explains why and it also explains the implications of this difference - particularly as it relates to Psalm 1. While addressing translation issues to some degree, this episode has a greater focus on the practical lessons of this first part of the poem: "Cheers for th...

This explains why a very common Hebrew conjugation is best translated using a feature of certain non-standard varieties of English. Also, we learn how this impacts the meaning of Psalm 1. More specifically, the Hebrew Qatal form is best translated using the "preverbal done" found in English dialects such as African American English and Southern American English. Both Qatal and "preverbal done" con...

If you read Bible translations, you should listen to this. Most translations aren't as good as they could be. You'll learn about some of the key problems and how they can be resolved. The issues include translating male-biased language, maintaining (or failing to maintain) distinctions between words, translation consistency, and dealing with the nuances and complexities of language. All this is ex...

This introduces a new translation of "Psalm 1" (part of Not A Bible Translation). You'll learn why a new translation is needed and what is different about Not A Bible Translation. In the process, we cover some of the issues with modern English Bible Translations and also how Not A Bible Translations deals with the fact that the English language is not one thing, but rather a whole bunch of things...

This is an introduction to, and overview of, our recent series Before Spirit Was Spiritualistic: Philosophical Materialism from Genesis to Jesus. Blog Article - http://www.bdsda.com/2023/04/03/before-spirit-was-spiritualistic-upcoming-series-april-may-2023/ Before Spirit Was Spiritualistic: Philosophical Materialism from Genesis to Jesus Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn4_HDw_7F...

Ancient religions had requirements for admission into sacred spaces - usually sacrifices and purification rites. The requirements had nothing to do with true beliefs or moral behavior. This was true of pagan religions and of many in ancient Israel as well. There was, however, a philosophical school in ancient Israel that was particularly concerned about truth and morality. We consider an ancient I...

According to the Hebrew prophets and the early Jesus-movement, God is an individual, material being - not a bodiless mind diffused through (and beyond) space and time.  Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2022/10/07/god-a-purely-material-person/ personality of god Archives - (bdsda.com) You can watch the recordings of the (now finished) Zoom Series at this link: Zoom Series from Oct. 11-17 (2022) -...

Jesus and his early followers understood him to be a purely physical being, having no non-physical aspect. Blog Article: Jesus: A Purely Material Person - (bdsda.com) Home - (bdsda.com) You can watch the recordings of the (now finished) Zoom Series at this link: Zoom Series from Oct. 11-17 (2022) - The Personality of God: An SDA Pillar Doctrine - (bdsda.com)

Jesus' doctrine of bodily resurrection as the only hope of future life is inconsistent with the idea that humans have non-physical souls. Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2022/10/05/resurrection-the-only-hope-of-future-life/ The Scripture Doctrine of Materialism by Thomas Cooper - (bdsda.com)  

Ancient Israelites didn't believe what most people today believe about death. Humans, to them, were organized dirt that return to dirt at death, having nothing non-physical in their nature - nothing that might exist independent of the body. Blog Article: To Dirt You Will Return (Israelite Anthropology) - (bdsda.com) You can watch the recordings of the (now finished) Zoom Series at this link: Zoom...

Are thoughts produced by an immaterial soul or spirit? Ancient Israelites didn't think so; they believed our thoughts are the behavior of certain bodily organs; namely, the kidneys, liver, and heart. Blog Article: Cognitive Kidneys (Israelite Anthropology) - (bdsda.com) All verses are from Not A Bible Translation - my own translation.

The truly radical philosophy in ancient Israel wasn't monotheism; it was materialism - a wholesale despiritualization of the world. Blog Article: Israel's Despiritualizing Philosophy - (bdsda.com) References for Egyptian Texts: Coffin Text Spell 78, CT II 19a-b (translation by James P. Allen in Context of Scripture, Volume 1, p. 11) Coffin Text Spell 80, CT II 32b-35h (translation by James P. Alle...

Ancient Israelites had a materialistic understanding of human nature. While most religious people today think humans are made of physical and non-physical aspects, ancient Israelites understood humans to be, quite literally, organized, breathing dirt, just like all the other animals. Blog Article: Dirt You Are (Israelite Anthropology) - (bdsda.com) You can watch the recordings of the (now finished...

Most physicists today believe that reality on the most fundamental level is timeless and that our experience of time and of change is ultimately an illusion. If this is true, the future already exists as a fixed reality and we have no possibility of changing to become any more moral than the laws of nature have destined us to be. But, as we'll see in this episode, time denial rests on a shaky foun...

This podcast contains the first part of Are You Minding What Matters? Lesson Three: Our Moral Possibility. Blog Article: The Possibility of Moral Change - (bdsda.com) Are You Minding What Matters? - (bdsda.com)

After reviewing clear evidence that the reason early SDAs rejected trinitarianism was not that they rejected the personhood of the Holy Spirit, we consider their actual reasons for rejecting trinitarianism. Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2022/05/28/why-early-sdas-rejected-trinitarianism/ The Holy Spirit A Person by R. A. Underwood - (bdsda.com) personality of god Archives - (bdsda.com)

This is SDA Holy Spirit Debate Now vs Then part 3! The main point this time is that throughout Christian history, there are been non-trinitarian theologies that affirm the personhood of the Holy Spirit. This makes it clear that the question of whether or not the Holy Spirit is a person is distinct from the question of whether trinitarianism is true. Modern SDAs tend to not be familiar with this hi...

Is trinitarianism just "belief in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit"? Short answer: No. Trinitarianism is a collection of specific claims regarding the nature of, and relationship between, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Early SDAs understood these truly distinctive features of trinitarianism and it is to these distinctives that they objected. Blog Article: What is Trinitarianism Anyway? - SDA Ho...

This episode introduces five projects published by Branch Davidians during the Feast of Unleavened Bread 2022. Blog Article: 2022 Unleavened Bread Projects - (bdsda.com) The Two Flood Stories in Genesis Video: https://youtu.be/rAlsqIKPbbc Podcast: Sabbath School with Branch Davidians: The Two Flood Stories In Genesis (libsyn.com) Why Vaccine Mandates Are Not An Evil Infringement On Religious Liber...

Unlike in the modern SDA debate about the personhood of the Holy Spirit, early SDAs regarded the question of whether the Holy Spirit is a person to be distinct from the question of whether trinitarianism is true. All early SDAs were anti-trinitarian, but their primary objections to the trinity had nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. Instead, they objected to the trinitarian idea of what it means t...

The early SDAs had a definite idea of what it means to be a "person." Understanding their view of personhood/personality is illuminating for what Ellen White meant when she called the Holy Spirit a person. Blog Article: What Did Ellen White Teach About the Personality of the Holy Spirit? - (bdsda.com) More on the Holy Spirit: holy spirit Archives - (bdsda.com) Follow/Subscribe: Follow The Trent Wi...

Ellen White described the early SDA beliefs regarding the "personality of God" as one of their pillar doctrines. Even though we commonly use the word "personality" to refer to character traits, the early SDAs used it to refer to what we might call "personhood." Their focus was on these two questions: 1) Is God a person? 2) What does it mean to be a person? Their answer to the first was, "Yes!" The...

Here are some great articles produced by Branch Davidians during the Feast of Tabernacles 2021. First, there are the following three Q&As: Q: Why study logic? Isn't that just the wisdom of man? - answered by Melissa DiLernia Q: Since Jesus' resurrection is a supernatural event, isn't it outside of the realm of historical investigation? - answered by Mary Zebrowski Q: What is the SDA doctrine of th...

Victor Houteff (founder of the Davidian movement) took a progressive stance on health reform. In other words, rather than looking for medical/health advice from Ellen White or the doctors of her day, he recognized that knowledge of health advances and we need to advance with it. He pointed out that Ellen White recommended reading the best authors on health. If God had revealed the specifics of hea...

Most Christians have a spiritualistic worldview - they believe in proposed "spiritual" (aka non-physical) realities. The distinctive doctrines of the Millerites moved them on a trajectory towards materialism (the belief that all that exists is made of matter). After the Great Disappointment, the Millerite movement fractured and different groups formed - heading either back toward spiritualism, mai...