His Burden is Light

Christians often get asked questions like, "If God knew Adam and Eve would eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, why did He put it in the Garden of Eden in the first place?" Or, "Why did God put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden and then Command Adam and Eve not to eat of it?" I would begin to answer this question as follows. A child is happy in the care of his parents. The child is content even if Dad loses his job and the family has to live in a car or a temporary shelter. That was an evil event that befell the family but the child simply trusts in his father and is sheltered from the experience of evil. The only time the child truly knows evil is if his father himself is taken away. Then the one in whom the child trusted and depended is gone and responsibility for his own needs falls upon the child himself. He now has the knowledge of good and evil. So really the first thing we must understand in answering this question is what...

As Christmas approaches, I thought it would be fitting to consider an issue I've heard raised in a few places over the years. The most famous example might be when the Hasidic-clad diamond thieves are discussing the Virgin Mary at the start of the movie, "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", written and directed by Guy Ritchie who was married to Madonna at the time. I believe without a doubt that this was expressive of her view of Isaiah 7:14 as interpreted by the Kabbalah, which she was/is following. In any case, the issue, briefly summarized, is this. In Isaiah 7:14, the scripture says, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." The Hebrew word here translated "virgin" is 'almah, which arguably means girl or young woman of marriageable age. So some have claimed that 'virgin' is not necessarily part of the essential meaning of the word and so it ...