On November 28, 2018 the Pepperdine, School of Public Policy hosted its annual Patricia Tagliaferri Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series. We were honored to welcome keynote speaker Dennis Prager, radio talk show host and founder of PragerU. Prager’s newest book, released in April 2018, is the first of his five-volume Bible commentary entitled, The Rational Bible: Exodus – God, Slavery and Freedom. While many people may think the Bible, the most influential book in world history, is outdated Prager’s explanation of the Book of Exodus, the second book of the Bible, will demonstrate that the Bible is not only powerfully relevant to today’s issues, but completely consistent with rational thought.
The removal of the wooden planks revealed the steps have been deeply grooved by centuries of this practice.
“Up until a few days ago, it wasn’t possible to see this because the stairs were covered for 300 years by walnut planks,” Guerra said.
Church tradition holds that St. Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, had the steps transported from Jerusalem to Rome in 326 A.D. along with several other relics related to Christ.
“We know for certain that St. Helen transported the nails used to crucify Jesus and a portion of his cross, to a church near here,” Guerra said.
The steps lead to a room called the Holy of Holies, which once served as a private chapel for popes. An icon of Jesus dating back to the fifth century and several relics of church saints lie within.
The most commonly cited location of Mount Sinai or “Jebel Musa,” meaning the “Mountain of Moses,” is at St. Catherine’s in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula in modern-day Egypt. While there are prominent proponents of the accuracy of that designation, many others find the evidence to be lacking and have chosen to either dismiss the Exodus account as a myth or to search for other possible locations.
The ability to make determinations about the historicity of the account and the possible geographic locations of the reported events has been hampered by the absence of a single, comprehensive source for an understanding of the cumulative theories and their associated research and evidences.
Over a dozen candidates for Mount Sinai in the Middle East have been proposed over time, with the candidates in Egypt offering the greatest access for excavation in search of supporting evidence.
Among the sites that have been thoroughly examined, the results have been—by most accounts—disappointing.
The debate over the location of Mount Sinai, including the debate over whether it should be in modern-day Egypt or elsewhere in the Middle East, is oftentimes unnecessarily heated.
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, which is considered an authoritative source on Jewish theology and history, religious Jews should not interpret the debate as a suggestion that their beliefs are inaccurate.
“There is no Jewish tradition of the geographical location of Mt. Sinai; it seems that its location was obscure already in the time of the monarchy,” it reads.[1]
However, one Rabbi has recently published a book titled “Searching for Sinai.” Rabbi Alexander Hool believes that Mount Sinai is in Saudi Arabia, and not at the traditional location in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Ephesians 1:17-21 – I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
This past Sunday we sang, “Open the Eyes of My Heart”. It is a beautiful song with lyrics that reflect what Paul was trying to get across the people of Ephesus in Ephesians 1:18. His prayer was that God would enlighten or open the eyes of their hearts so that they could see hope we have in God’s inheritance and his power.
Sometimes we need to have the eyes of our heart opened. Sometimes we forget that we have a hope of eternal life and that the things of earth are not that important in the eternal scheme of things. At other times we are blinded to God’s power. We know it is there but we don’t allow his power to flow because we don’t think or believe that God will do something. Like the father of the demon possessed boy we have to say, “I do believe. Lord, help my unbelief.” And then there are times when we do not see past our own needs and miss the needs of others. Our heart’s eyes need to be enlightened so that we can allow God to work through us.
I can not tell you the number of times this song has ministered to my spiritual life or my relationship with others.
It is my prayer today that you will allow God to open the eyes of your heart and show you a new and better way.
Dear God, You are Jehovah Ori, The God of light, and my guide. My prayer today is that you will open the eyes of my heart so that I can see you clearly and so that I can know the security of your eternal nature and your power. Help me to lift you up and glorify you instead of trying to lift myself up or think of myself before others. You are holy. You are God. You are my light and my salvation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Open The Eyes of My Heart
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord;
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You, I want to see You
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord;
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You, I want to see You
To see You high and lifted up
Shining in the light of Your glory
Lord pour out Your Power and Love
As we sing Holy, Holy, Holy
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord;
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You, I want to see You
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord;
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You, I want to see You
To see You high and lifted up
Shining in the light of Your glory
Lord pour out Your Power and Love
As we sing Holy, Holy, Holy
To see You high and lifted up
Shining in the light of Your glory
Lord pour out Your Power and Love
As we sing Holy, Holy, Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy,
Holy, Holy, Holy, I want to see You. (repeat)
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord;
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You, I want to see You
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord;
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You, I want to see You
Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy,
Holy, Holy, Holy, I want to see You.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy,
Holy, Holy, Holy, I want to see You.
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord;
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You, I want to see You
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord;
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You, I want to see You
An enlightening and entertaining dialogue with Jewish talk host Dennis Prager and Christian pastor/commentator Robert Jeffress. Judaism is the oldest living religion, and the foundation for many Christian beliefs and practices.
– What is the difference between the Jewish and Christian view of life after death? – What can Jews learn from Christians? – Why have Jews been the target of persecution throughout history? – Why is Christianity now being opposed?
Join Dennis Prager and Dr. Robert Jeffress along with moderator Dudley Rutherford as they discuss the similarities and differences of these two great world religions.
Dennis Prager and the wisdom and challenges of The Rational Bible
Dennis Prager is no stranger to controversy. A columnist and syndicated radio host, for years, he’s expressed his viewpoints on everything under the sun–and gotten plenty of pushback.
He’s been called a hypocrite by “The Atlantic,” a dope by the “Huffington Post” and a spreader of lies by Media Matters. Even fellow conservatives such as Jonah Goldberg and John Podhoretz have recently taken him to task for his opinions.
Now he’s taking on the Bible. Okay, “taking on” might be the wrong way to put it, but Prager’s new book, “The Rational Bible: Exodus,” is a chance for both fans and opponents to understand how the Scriptures underlie his sense of morality.
“[My job] make the Bible known to as many people around the world as possible, so that they have access to the finest guide to life ever written.”
– Dennis Prager
Coming from Prager, the book is likely to challenge much of modern ethics, but that would be okay with him—he wants people to take another look at the Bible, to change how they perceive it.
His main mission is to let the world know the Bible is as relevant as ever. As he explained in an interview with Fox News, he feels his job is to “make the Bible known to as many people around the world as possible, so that they have access to the finest guide to life ever written.”
The roots of his book go far back. He was teaching the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) about 25 years ago at a Jewish university and noticed half his students were non-Jews. He realized “either the Torah has something to say to everyone or it has nothing to say to Jews.”
So, essentially, there’s a quarter-century’s experience (at least) behind this book. For the last three years, Prager notes, it’s all he’s been writing.
He started with Exodus, and not the first book of the Bible, Genesis, “primarily because it contains the Ten Commandments, the moral centerpiece of the Bible.”
A good portion of his book—17,000 words, by Prager’s count—in fact deals with the Ten Commandments. Next year he hopes to have a book out on Genesis, and, ultimately, to complete five volumes on the Bible.
Prager is concerned that many dismiss the Bible as not being applicable to today’s world, some even calling it morally harmful. His book, he hopes, can set people straight. He’s not appealing to faith, he says, but to reason.
One problem is that many of the rules listed in Exodus seem dated. But, as Prager notes, almost any legal code becomes dated in its specifics. “The issue is what values and teaching we can derive from these laws.
Few people today own oxen, but the law that an ox that kills a human being must be put to death reflects a fundamental biblical value—the preciousness of human life, and the price a killer, even an animal-killer, must pay for taking it.”
Indeed, the Covenant Code–rules for living found in chapters 20 through 23 of Exodus–plays a significant role in The Rational Bible. Modern critics have questioned the value of these rules, where women seem to be property, and slavery is taken for granted.
“Things that at first appear irrelevant, primitive, or even immoral turn out to be important and often great moral leaps forward.”
– Dennis Prager – The Rational Bible–Exodus
Prager hopes people will get a chance to examine his take. One of the central lessons of his book is “Things that at first appear irrelevant, primitive, or even immoral turn out to be important and often great moral leaps forward.”
He believes his book shows how “new and different the Bible was from anything that preceded it.” It brought the world a new kind of morality, and way of life, and he hopes to help people understand the “sublime moral values” it champions.
In fact, that is part of the evidence as to why God is the ultimate author of the Torah (even if there were human intermediaries)—because it was “utterly different and morally superior to everything else ever believed.”
And such wisdom, if properly comprehended, still applies today. For instance, Prager hopes to explain important distinctions found in the Bible—“human-animal; human-God; man-woman; good-evil; holy-profane; and God-nature.” Understanding these distinctions “would help explain to anyone how to best order the world.”
He believes readers can discover in his book not just a better understanding of the Bible, but a better way to live. Thus the book is his attempt to “explain the life-enhancing insights, teaching, and morality” contained in the Torah.
While he hopes he can convince some people to be believers, that is not his primary purpose–he notes the Bible’s wisdom would be helpful to both believers and non-believers alike.
“How we act is far more important than how we think or feel.”
– Dennis Prager
For instance, Prager argues it’s important to understand that “how we act is far more important than how we think or feel.” While that insight may come from his reading of the Bible, it’s a precept that anyone can follow.
So The Rational Bible–Exodus offers a challenge to all—to experts and novices, to evangelists and atheists. From a man who has been challenging people for years with his opinions, this is the ultimate challenge—it’s Prager’s passionate argument about what God expects from you, and what you can do to change your own life.
He’s been called a hypocrite by “The Atlantic,” a dope by the “Huffington Post” and a spreader of lies by Media Matters. Even fellow conservatives such as Jonah Goldberg and John Podhoretz have recently taken him to task for his opinions.
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