Is Tithing Really Biblical?
“Are Christians really commanded to give ten percent of their income to the church? My pastor says this is an important financial stewardship standard of God, called, tithing.” It’s true that in the Old Testament,…
Articles by Bob Siegel
Of course the Trinity is Impossible! Haven’t You Ever Studied Math?
He looked very proud of himself. After all, he had just disproved the Trinity, or at least, he thought he had. I was doing an outdoor open forum at Arizona State University, taking questions about…
The Day A Scholar Said Scholars Aren’t Scholarly
I was a campus minister at UCSB for five years. At that time, (back in the eighties) they had a reputation for offering the best religious studies department in the country. On this particular day,…
Did Jesus Fulfill Bible Prophecy? Isaiah 53
Now that we have established the claims of Jesus, let’s see if His claims are in fact true: 700 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah the prophet predicted that the Messiah would die for Israel’s…
Did Jesus Really Claim To Be God?
“Did Jesus really claim to be God? I have heard this teaching was something the early church did not even believe until the time of Emperor Constantine, and when I read the New Testament, the…
Did Jesus Really Claim to be The Messiah?
This is the beginning of a series highlighting some of the Old Testament prophecies, fulfilled by Jesus. These prophecies predicted the coming of the Messiah (from a Hebrew word, meaning “Anointed One,” a special servant…
They Did It Because They Were Poor? Sure. Now, I’ll tell one.
April 14, 2008 Obama put his foot in his mouth again by making a comment about the bitterness associated with being poor. I’m going to give the guy a break today. Instead of critiquing his…
How A Reformed Jew Became an Evangelical Christian Part Seven
What happened was a miracle. With all due respect to the parting of the Red Sea, this seemed a bigger miracle, something I could not possibly have imagined. When my mother returned from her shopping,…
How A Reformed Jew Became an Evangelical Christian: Part Six
If you’ve never before set foot on the UC Berkley campus, your education is not yet complete. This was the early 70’s (those first few years akin to the counter-culture 60’s). My brother and I…
Can The Existence of God Be Proven?
In my book, I’d Like To Believe In Jesus, But… I make the point that God’s existence cannot be proven or disproved. Instead of claiming to prove the existence of God, Christians and other theists…
Was Jesus The Promised Messiah? Daniel 9
One of the most interesting and conclusive prophecies about Jesus Christ comes to us from the prophet, Daniel. A prisoner of the Babylonians first, and then the Persians, when they conquered Babylon, Daniel found himself…
Are Christians Expected to Keep the Sabbath?
“Are most Christians being disobedient about the Sabbath? Recently I met some people from the Seventh Day Adventist Church. They claim that Saturday is the true Sabbath day, not Sunday. That’s why they hold their…
Can I Say Something To You In Love?
“Can I say something to you in love?” If you’re a Christian, those are familier words. You have heard them often. You have also discovered that your fellow Christians tend to shroud things in spirituality….
If The Gospel Was Fake, This Would Have Been A Really Dumb Thing To Include
On Easter Sunday morning, Christians all over the world will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Atheists and other skeptics will marvel that large groups of people could be so stupid and naïve. After…
Would Obama’s Christianity Be Recognized by Jesus?
Originally written in 2008 while Obama was running for president. It’s time to stop all this talk about whether or not Obama is truly a Muslim. He says he isn’t and I take him at…
An Identity Crisis: God or Satan?
“In the Old Testament, King David, (apparently out of pride) decided to take a census of Israel. This bothered God very much. As a result, God punished David and the entire nation. The problem is…
How Should We Pray For Healing?
Recently, on my blog, I asked prayer for a friend who had cancer. I received a cordial, yet firm, admonition from a reader who seemed to be suggesting that we should never pray for healing,…
How a Reformed Jew Became an Evangelical Christian Part Five
Before telling my dad about my conversion to Christianity, I decided to warm up on my mom. I knew she’d be upset and I knew she’d yell but she never yelled as loud as my…
How a Reformed Jew Became an Evangelical Christian Part Four
On one hand, my conversion to Christianity seemed so sudden, a fantastic answer to a quick, desperate prayer. But it was also the culmination of an unconscious search that had been going on in my…
How A Reformed Jew Became an Evangelical Christian Part Three
That night, before I went to bed, I made the following prayer: “God, all my life I’ve heard about Jesus, but Jesus has been forbidden knowledge to me. If it’s really possible to have a…