Connecting laypeople to Biblical scholarship
This entry is adapted from a longer one here.
Consider the following texts:
2 Samuel 24:1 ESV
Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”
1 Chronicles 21:1 NRSVUE
Satan stood up against Israel and incited David to count the people of Israel.
These texts record the same event. Yet, the first account says it was God who incited David, while the second says it was Satan. Which is it?
Èṣù in Yoruba Metaphysics: A Brief Note
Traditionally, the Yoruba conceive of the world as an interconnected three-tiered cosmos: Ọ̀run (meaning, heaven), Aiyé (meaning, the earth), and Ilẹ̀ (meaning, underground; netherworld). Ọlọ́run (literally, “heaven’s owner”) inhabits Orun, the Yoruba pantheon’s realm, alongside over four hundred gods, many of whom walked the earth as humans with supernatural abilities. Ọlọ́run, also known as Ẹlẹ́dàá (literally, “the creator”), is the supreme being. Aiyé is the world of humans, and Ilẹ̀ is the world of departed souls, especially of ancestors. The dividing wall between Ọ̀run and Ilẹ̀, especially regarding deified souls, is quite ethereal.