Trent Wilde Blog

The term usually translated "the wicked" in English translations of Hebrew scripture is better translated "wrongdoers." This episode explains why and it also explains the implications of this difference - particularly as it relates to Psalm 1. While addressing translation issues to some degree, this episode has a greater focus on the practical lessons of this first part of the poem: "Cheers for the man who ain't done gone in the counsel of wrongdoers..." Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2023/08/20/aint-done-gone-in-the-counsel-of-wrongdoers-psalm-1-nabt/  Different Ways to Follow the Podcast: https://www.bdsda.com/2021/08/19/follow-the-trent-wilde-blog-podcast/  Music by Trent Wilde

This explains why a very common Hebrew conjugation is best translated using a feature of certain non-standard varieties of English. Also, we learn how this impacts the meaning of Psalm 1. More specifically, the Hebrew Qatal form is best translated using the "preverbal done" found in English dialects such as African American English and Southern American English. Both Qatal and "preverbal done" convey the perfective aspect. If you don't know what all these terms mean - no worries, their explained in the episode. :)  Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2023/08/20/aint-done-gone-in-the-counsel-of-wrongdoers-psalm-1-nabt/ Perfective Done (Yale Grammatical Diversity Project): https://ygdp.yale.edu/phenomena/perfective-done  

If you read Bible translations, you should listen to this. Most translations aren't as good as they could be. You'll learn about some of the key problems and how they can be resolved. The issues include translating male-biased language, maintaining (or failing to maintain) distinctions between words, translation consistency, and dealing with the nuances and complexities of language. All this is explored through taking a detailed look at the first line of "Psalm 1" and its translation in Not A Bible Translation (NABT). Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2023/08/04/cheers-for-the-man-who-psalm-1-nabt/ 00:00 Intro 01:32 "Psalm 1" wasn't originally "Psalm 1" 04:00 Why NABT isn't immutable 10:56 "Cheers" - Maintaining Distinctions Between Words 22:30 Phrase Function 25:50 Root Consistency 29:31 Nuanced View of Consistency in Translation 47:01 "Man" - dealing with male-biased language 58:14 "Who" 1:00:30 Summary  

This introduces a new translation of "Psalm 1" (part of Not A Bible Translation). You'll learn why a new translation is needed and what is different about Not A Bible Translation. In the process, we cover some of the issues with modern English Bible Translations and also how Not A Bible Translations deals with the fact that the English language is not one thing, but rather a whole bunch of things (a collection of varieties).  Two main uncommon features of Not A Bible Translation are 1) it isn't a revision of previous translations, and 2) it doesn't translate into Standardized English, but instead utilizes whatever variety of English provides the most accurate English reflection of the Hebrew in each given instance. Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2023/07/19/not-a-bible-translation-of-psalm-1/ Family Tree of English Bible Translations: https://i.redd.it/4dy9mww4gd1a1.png    

This is an introduction to, and overview of, our recent series Before Spirit Was Spiritualistic: Philosophical Materialism from Genesis to Jesus. Blog Article - http://www.bdsda.com/2023/04/03/before-spirit-was-spiritualistic-upcoming-series-april-may-2023/ Before Spirit Was Spiritualistic: Philosophical Materialism from Genesis to Jesus Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn4_HDw_7F5K2GpgKtdh3kNTMX9s03tjs Are You Minding What Matters? YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@AreYouMindingWhatMatters  Jeremiah Against Orthodoxy (Ancient and Modern) - http://www.bdsda.com/2023/01/24/jeremiah-against-orthodoxy-ancient-and-modern/ 

Ancient religions had requirements for admission into sacred spaces - usually sacrifices and purification rites. The requirements had nothing to do with true beliefs or moral behavior. This was true of pagan religions and of many in ancient Israel as well. There was, however, a philosophical school in ancient Israel that was particularly concerned about truth and morality. We consider an ancient Israelite poem that gives conditions for entering Yahweh's tent. What are the conditions? Not animal sacrifices or other typical ritual demands, but instead, the conditions are exclusively moral, and the description of the moral conditions makes it evident that the author was a proponent of truth-based morality. If the poem sounds familiar, you've probably read translations of it before. It's known as "Psalm 15" in the book of Psalms of the later Hebrew tradition and "Psalm 14" in the book of Psalms of the later Greek tradition. Originally, though, the poem was an independent composition. Since ancient naming traditions often named something according to the first line, this poem might have originally been called, "Yahweh, Who May Travel Into Your Tent?" The translation of the poem in this podcast is my own translation: Not A Bible Translation. Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2023/01/04/who-may-travel-into-yahwehs-tent/

According to the Hebrew prophets and the early Jesus-movement, God is an individual, material being - not a bodiless mind diffused through (and beyond) space and time.  Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2022/10/07/god-a-purely-material-person/ personality of god Archives - (bdsda.com) You can watch the recordings of the (now finished) Zoom Series at this link: Zoom Series from Oct. 11-17 (2022) - The Personality of God: An SDA Pillar Doctrine - (bdsda.com)

Jesus and his early followers understood him to be a purely physical being, having no non-physical aspect. Blog Article: Jesus: A Purely Material Person - (bdsda.com) Home - (bdsda.com) You can watch the recordings of the (now finished) Zoom Series at this link: Zoom Series from Oct. 11-17 (2022) - The Personality of God: An SDA Pillar Doctrine - (bdsda.com)

Jesus' doctrine of bodily resurrection as the only hope of future life is inconsistent with the idea that humans have non-physical souls. Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2022/10/05/resurrection-the-only-hope-of-future-life/ The Scripture Doctrine of Materialism by Thomas Cooper - (bdsda.com)  

Ancient Israelites didn't believe what most people today believe about death. Humans, to them, were organized dirt that return to dirt at death, having nothing non-physical in their nature - nothing that might exist independent of the body. Blog Article: To Dirt You Will Return (Israelite Anthropology) - (bdsda.com) You can watch the recordings of the (now finished) Zoom Series at this link: Zoom Series from Oct. 11-17 (2022) - The Personality of God: An SDA Pillar Doctrine - (bdsda.com)

Are thoughts produced by an immaterial soul or spirit? Ancient Israelites didn't think so; they believed our thoughts are the behavior of certain bodily organs; namely, the kidneys, liver, and heart. Blog Article: Cognitive Kidneys (Israelite Anthropology) - (bdsda.com) All verses are from Not A Bible Translation - my own translation.

The truly radical philosophy in ancient Israel wasn't monotheism; it was materialism - a wholesale despiritualization of the world. Blog Article: Israel's Despiritualizing Philosophy - (bdsda.com) References for Egyptian Texts: Coffin Text Spell 78, CT II 19a-b (translation by James P. Allen in Context of Scripture, Volume 1, p. 11) Coffin Text Spell 80, CT II 32b-35h (translation by James P. Allen in Context of Scripture, Volume 1, p. 12) Pyramid Text 606, from Hymns, Prayers and Songs: An Anthology of Ancient Egyptian Lyric Poetry, p. 33

Ancient Israelites had a materialistic understanding of human nature. While most religious people today think humans are made of physical and non-physical aspects, ancient Israelites understood humans to be, quite literally, organized, breathing dirt, just like all the other animals. Blog Article: Dirt You Are (Israelite Anthropology) - (bdsda.com) You can watch the recordings of the (now finished) Zoom Series at this link: Zoom Series from Oct. 11-17 (2022) - The Personality of God: An SDA Pillar Doctrine - (bdsda.com)

Most physicists today believe that reality on the most fundamental level is timeless and that our experience of time and of change is ultimately an illusion. If this is true, the future already exists as a fixed reality and we have no possibility of changing to become any more moral than the laws of nature have destined us to be. But, as we'll see in this episode, time denial rests on a shaky foundation and we actually have every reason to believe that time and change are real. Blog Article: The Denial of Time - (bdsda.com) Are You Minding What Matters? - (bdsda.com)

This podcast contains the first part of Are You Minding What Matters? Lesson Three: Our Moral Possibility. Blog Article: The Possibility of Moral Change - (bdsda.com) Are You Minding What Matters? - (bdsda.com)

After reviewing clear evidence that the reason early SDAs rejected trinitarianism was not that they rejected the personhood of the Holy Spirit, we consider their actual reasons for rejecting trinitarianism. Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2022/05/28/why-early-sdas-rejected-trinitarianism/ The Holy Spirit A Person by R. A. Underwood - (bdsda.com) personality of god Archives - (bdsda.com)

This is SDA Holy Spirit Debate Now vs Then part 3! The main point this time is that throughout Christian history, there are been non-trinitarian theologies that affirm the personhood of the Holy Spirit. This makes it clear that the question of whether or not the Holy Spirit is a person is distinct from the question of whether trinitarianism is true. Modern SDAs tend to not be familiar with this historical reality and thus assume that anyone who accepts the personhood of the Holy Spirit is probably a trinitarian while anti-trinitarians are assumed to deny the personhood of the Holy Spirit. Early SDAs understood the distinction between these questions and we need to understand it as well in order to rightly comprehend early-SDA ideas regarding the personhood of the Holy Spirit. Blog Article: Non-Trinitarians Who Say the Holy Spirit Is A Person - (bdsda.com) Modalism: Modalistic Monarchianism - Wikipedia Sabellianism: Sabellianism - Wikipedia Patripassianism: Patripassianism - Wikipedia Tritheism: Tritheism - Wikipedia Arianism: Arianism - Wikipedia Holy-Spirit-is-an-angel-ism: Pneumatomachi - Wikipedia Holy Spirit as Angel in Islam: Rūḥ - Wikipedia R. A. Underwood's The Holy Spirit A Person (with my introduction): The Holy Spirit A Person by R. A. Underwood - (bdsda.com)

Is trinitarianism just "belief in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit"? Short answer: No. Trinitarianism is a collection of specific claims regarding the nature of, and relationship between, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Early SDAs understood these truly distinctive features of trinitarianism and it is to these distinctives that they objected. Blog Article: What is Trinitarianism Anyway? - SDA Holy Spirit Debate Now vs Then 2 - (bdsda.com) Is Jesus As Old As His Father? (from Sabbath School with Branch Davidians) Video: https://youtu.be/kq3hGmaAk54 Podcast: Sabbath School with Branch Davidians: Is Jesus as Old as His Father? (libsyn.com) Was God Both On His Throne And Visiting Babel Simultaneously? (from Sabbath School With Branch Davidians) Video: https://youtu.be/JHhYuLAtXqc Podcast: Sabbath School with Branch Davidians: Was God Both On His Throne and Visiting Babel Simultaneously? (libsyn.com) Should We Believe All That The Prophets Have Spoken? - (bdsda.com) The Parable of The Two Schools - (bdsda.com)

This episode introduces five projects published by Branch Davidians during the Feast of Unleavened Bread 2022. Blog Article: 2022 Unleavened Bread Projects - (bdsda.com) The Two Flood Stories in Genesis Video: https://youtu.be/rAlsqIKPbbc Podcast: Sabbath School with Branch Davidians: The Two Flood Stories In Genesis (libsyn.com) Why Vaccine Mandates Are Not An Evil Infringement On Religious Liberty - (bdsda.com) How Could "The Invisible Christ" Be A Female? - (bdsda.com) When You Said, "The COVID Vaccines Aren't FDA-Approved!" video: https://youtu.be/RV-54i1Akb4 The Holy Spirit A Person by R. A. Underwood - (bdsda.com)

Unlike in the modern SDA debate about the personhood of the Holy Spirit, early SDAs regarded the question of whether the Holy Spirit is a person to be distinct from the question of whether trinitarianism is true. All early SDAs were anti-trinitarian, but their primary objections to the trinity had nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. Instead, they objected to the trinitarian idea of what it means to be a person. When using the early SDA notion of personhood, accepting that the Holy Spirit is a person does not imply an acceptance of trinitarianism. Blog Article: SDA Holy Spirit Debate Now vs Then 1 - (bdsda.com) J. H. Waggoner's Letter to James White: EllenWhite.Org Website - 000960-o.pdf Youtube Playlist for Trent Wilde Blog Podcast Videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw8ykUZG-bwelMQxY84oWr9PLnKdgK_4r

The early SDAs had a definite idea of what it means to be a "person." Understanding their view of personhood/personality is illuminating for what Ellen White meant when she called the Holy Spirit a person. Blog Article: What Did Ellen White Teach About the Personality of the Holy Spirit? - (bdsda.com) More on the Holy Spirit: holy spirit Archives - (bdsda.com) Follow/Subscribe: Follow The Trent Wilde Blog Podcast! - (bdsda.com)

Ellen White described the early SDA beliefs regarding the "personality of God" as one of their pillar doctrines. Even though we commonly use the word "personality" to refer to character traits, the early SDAs used it to refer to what we might call "personhood." Their focus was on these two questions: 1) Is God a person? 2) What does it mean to be a person? Their answer to the first was, "Yes!" Their answer the second was, "It means to be a material being consisting of a real body with real parts and passions." As you can hear in this episode, the early SDA doctrine of the personality of God was that God is a physical entity whose shape is humanoid (we were made in his image after all). Blog Article: What is the SDA Doctrine of the Personality of God? - (bdsda.com)

Here are some great articles produced by Branch Davidians during the Feast of Tabernacles 2021. First, there are the following three Q&As: Q: Why study logic? Isn't that just the wisdom of man? - answered by Melissa DiLernia Q: Since Jesus' resurrection is a supernatural event, isn't it outside of the realm of historical investigation? - answered by Mary Zebrowski Q: What is the SDA doctrine of the Personality of God? answered by Teresa and Trent Wilde (In connection with this last Q&A, we also recommend reading the series 'The Personality of God' by D.M. Canright. James and Ellen White personally assisted Canright with the series.) Ed Zebrowski also started a new Youtube Channel and uploaded his first video: "Materialism" which is a great introduction to philosophical materialism. Lastly, there is the video Ed and Mary Zebrowski produced during the feast for their channel Sabbath School with Branch Davidians (also now a podcast). Links to all of the above can be found at the blog article. Blog Article: Offerings of Truth from the Feast of Tabernacles 2021 - (bdsda.com)

Victor Houteff (founder of the Davidian movement) took a progressive stance on health reform. In other words, rather than looking for medical/health advice from Ellen White or the doctors of her day, he recognized that knowledge of health advances and we need to advance with it. He pointed out that Ellen White recommended reading the best authors on health. If God had revealed the specifics of healthy living, there would be no need to turn to these lesser authorities. So, the fact that Ellen White herself used and recommended these earthly authorities shows that she didn't receive her knowledge of food values and medicine from God. The best sources of medical/health information change over time as knowledge increases, so we ought to always seek the best sources of our own day. Houteff then stresses that the true health authorities are not those who label their products and professions "health," "nature," "drugless," and so on - and who try to prejudice people against approved professional places. He refers to those who run these alternative "so-called health shops" as quacks, and he warns against using their services. Houteff's teachings on this subject have clear implications for how Davidians should approach health today. Furthermore, what Houteff pointed out regarding Ellen White's recommendation to read the best authors on health is a lesson all SDAs can benefit from. Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2021/10/26/houteff-against-alternative-medicine-davidian-history-day/

Most Christians have a spiritualistic worldview - they believe in proposed "spiritual" (aka non-physical) realities. The distinctive doctrines of the Millerites moved them on a trajectory towards materialism (the belief that all that exists is made of matter). After the Great Disappointment, the Millerite movement fractured and different groups formed - heading either back toward spiritualism, maintaining the Millerite position, or moving toward full-fledged materialism. Those who formed the SDA church became full-fledged materialists. This episode explains how the Great Disappointment (and the SDA explanation of it) was instrumental in making that happen. Plus... you'll get to find out what it means for the Second Advent to be "Personal" as well as what it means for God to be a "Person." Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2021/10/17/what-happened-on-oct-22-1844-is-not-immaterial/ Materialism: Our Forgotten Foundation: http://www.bdsda.com/materialism-our-forgotten-foundation-2/ Personality of God tag: http://www.bdsda.com/tag/personality-of-god/

The past is gone... So how can we know anything about it? And what do tree rings have to do with this? Blog Article: http://www.bdsda.com/2021/09/20/how-can-we-know-things-about-the-past/ 

If there is only one way to translate "literally," that would imply there can only be one "literal" translation. So if we acknowledge that there are multiple "literal" translations, we must admit that translations can differ in their wording and still be "literal." The issue with Genesis 1:1 is that, even when comparing literal translations, there are substantial differences. Some imply that the verse speaks of the ultimate beginning while others imply that it speaks only of the beginning of the actions described. Which is correct? The only way to know is to seek to understand the Hebrew original. Blog Article: Are There Literal Translations? (continued exchange with Edward D. Andrews) - (bdsda.com) Aleph with Beth - YouTube Home - Free Hebrew. Forever. (hismagnificence.com)

The issues include: Clear Communication Translation Philosophy Details of Translating Genesis 1:1 Blog Article: My Response to Edward D. Andrews on Translating Genesis 1:1 - (bdsda.com)

A hymn in Paul's letter to the Philippians is one piece of evidence among many that the early followers of Jesus were materialistic theists - they believed that God, like everything else, is made of matter. The hymn plainly states that God has a form and that other heavenly beings have body parts like knees and tongues.  Materialism: Our Forgotten Foundation - (bdsda.com) personality of god Archives - (bdsda.com) A Vision of Christ (Ode 36) - (bdsda.com) Blog Article: Materialistic Theism in the Philippian Christ Hymn - (bdsda.com)

A call to honesty regarding our motivations and reasoning.  Blog Article: When You Said, "The COVID Vaccines Aren't FDA-Approved!" ... - (bdsda.com)

Jeremiah 3:6 starts with the phrase "And Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king..." This indicates that this verse marks a division in the text. What might we learn from this regarding the composition of the book called "Jeremiah"? English Translation of Greek Version of Jeremiah - A New English Translation of the Septuagint. 34. Ieremias (upenn.edu) Blog Article - The Book of Jeremiah is a Montage - (bdsda.com)

Does God know the entire future exhaustively and infallibly? Is God beyond time? What does Scripture say? Blog Article: Yahweh's Disappointed Expectation in Jeremiah 3 - (bdsda.com)

If morality isn't based on God, society, or human nature, what is it based on? This episode argues that it is based on material reality.  Blog Article: Material Reality as the Basis for Morality - (bdsda.com)

This is a continuation of the previous episode and represents the next section of my article Are You Minding What Matters? This covers three types of theories regarding the basis of morality and explains why none of them succeed in actually explaining the foundation of morality. Here are the three: 1) God-Based Morality 2) Society-Based Morality 3) Human-Nature-Based Morality The episode after this will explain why the true foundation of morality is material reality.  Blog Article: Theories of the Basis of Morality - (bdsda.com)

Is reality strictly material or do immaterial things exist? What is "immateriality" anyway? Blog Article: Materialism or Immaterialism? - (bdsda.com)

How should we translate the first clause of Genesis 1:1?  Blog Article: Genesis 1:1 - In What Beginning?! - (bdsda.com)

Links to Evidence: 1. Vaccine Safety: Examine the Evidence - HealthyChildren.org 2. Vaccination - Our World in Data 3. Living Evidence - COVID-19 vaccines | Agency for Clinical Innovation (nsw.gov.au) 4. How We Know That the COVID-19 Vaccines Work | Office for Science and Society - McGill University _______ Blog Article: Vaccines (Including COVID Vaccines) Are Safe And Effective - (bdsda.com)

Principles to help you know how to decide on what remedy to take for your sickness Experience Not Reliable: https://egwwritings.org/?ref=en_3T.67¶=119.305  Recommended Health Resources: Resources - (bdsda.com) Blog Article: Should You Use That Remedy For That Ailment? - (bdsda.com)

Josephus says Ezekiel wrote two books... what's the deal with that? And what does it teach us about the history of bible canons? Blog Article: 1st and 2nd Ezekiel? - (bdsda.com)

To make sure we get the most out of self-examination, we should use mirrors - God's message and Jesus' example. This episode gives practical advice on how to make use of these mirrors.  Blog Article: Mirrors of Self-Examination - (bdsda.com)

We choose what our character will be. We can choose to be someone who follows our feelings or we can choose to be someone who follows principle regardless of feelings. If we choose the latter, doing the right thing is never fake.  Blog Article: Is it "Fake" to Do the Right Thing When it Doesn't "Feel Natural"? - (bdsda.com)

Cochrane resources can be good if used critically; however, it isn't the greatest resource for understanding science-based medicine. Blog Article: Why I Removed Cochrane Resources From Our Resources Page - (bdsda.com)

Why this podcast and what to expect! Blog Article: Welcome to the Blog! - (bdsda.com)