By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The Book of Ruth is one of the shorter books of the Bible, but the story it tells is one of the most movingly ‘human’ in all of the Old Testament. However, how the story of Ruth should be interpreted is not an easy question to answer. Let’s delve deeper into the Biblical Book of Ruth to discover a world of outsiders, love, law, and mysterious customs involving shoes.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
What is the story of Lot’s wife, and why was she turned into a pillar of salt? The short version of the story is this: while escaping from the city of Sodom shortly before God destroyed it with fire and brimstone, Lot and his family were told not to look back on the destruction of the city. Lot’s wife disobeyed this order, and became a pillar of salt.
But why a pillar of salt? This curious story appears to have its origins in the distinctive topography of the Dead Sea. Let’s take a closer look.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
What is ‘manna’ from heaven? Manna is the name given to the food the Israelites ate during the wilderness wanderings recounted in Exodus chapter 16, following the parting of the Red Sea after the Israelites’ escape out of Egypt, where they had been kept as slaves of the Egyptians.
But what precisely is manna? Let’s take a closer look at the relevant episode in the Bible. We’ll quote from the King James Bible and summarise the details as we go, before offering an analysis of the story’s meaning.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The story of Moses parting the waters of the Red Sea so he and the Israelites could flee Egypt and travel to the Promised Land is one of the most famous stories from the Old Testament. What this episode means, however, remains less clear. Should this be analysed as a divine miracle alone, or does it – like many Old Testament phenomena – have its roots in something more down-to-earth?
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The story of Cain and Abel is the next major story in the Bible, after the Creation account and the story of the Garden of Eden. In short, Cain murders his younger brother Abel and is exiled for his crime. But is the story ‘just’ a moral tale, or might it be an attempt to explain something deeper about the development of human civilisation?