To whomever has read this, I'm curious to know what Barker's position is. I'm on ch. 10, and so far it seems that her data represents YHWH as multiple deities in the OT times which some Israelites believed in. The Deutoronomists came later to correct tradition which is where we now have our Masoretic and LXX texts describing YHWH as only one being, but before texts may have read differently. I wonder if I am presenting her data/position correctly. It's a fascinating read! Definitely still contemplating the subject and plan to read much more! It's great to read about how the model of the Trinity isn't so farfetched at all and is backed by loads of evidence in terms of understanding one God in multiple persons, or in Barker's case, she says "deities" or beings. Not sure if she is Christian or not, but a good read. I am posting because I am curious if I presented her case correctly or not. If not, please help me understand her main points so I can continue reading with clarity and outside the fog. If you want to read this yourself, check out this PDF I found online. Also, here's Heiser's Two Power's in Heaven website where other books remain for your reading pleasure and mine.

We talk a lot about making sure our philosophical foundations are set. I found this awesome resource for all things historical apologetics which would be a great opportunity for all of you to apply you’ve learned to the historical data. Here’s an extremely helpful database endorsed by apologists and scholars I trust: https://historicalapologetics.org/ Let us know what you think.

The consensus view is that Israel was originally polytheistic, then became henotheistic, eventually arriving at Yahweh-only monotheism. This is important, because false religions such as Mormonism and Islam like to argue that El Elyon (The Most High) in Genesis, Deuteronomy 32, and Psalm 82 was originally conceived to be a separate being from that of Yahweh. Think about it: if Yahweh is El, and Yahweh is called LORD in Gen 14:18-22, then the activity of indexing LORD to Christ in reference to the Jewish Shema (Israel’s monotheistic confession) allows us to infer that those like St. Paul are deliberately including Christ within the divine identity of the Most High God. The great and late Michael Heiser argues against the consensus in his paper “Are Yahweh and El Distinct Deities in Deut. 32:8-9 and Psalm 82? Are Yahweh and El Distinct Deities in Deut. 32:8-9 and Psalm 82?”

I’m thinking about Christianity’s presence in West Africa and the presence of captured African Christians in the Atlantic slave trade and how their presence helped shape the black Christian perspective. Specifically the Christians in Mansa Musaa’s Empire in the 1300s Tukrur as talked about by Dr. Vince Bantu. Any thoughts?

Has anyone here read Nick Meader's book, "Resurrection: Extraordinary Evidence for an Extraordinary Claim"? I was reading chapter 5 last night, and it seemed like he really breezed through how well physical-first or mind-first views of reality fit what we observe about the world, and there was plenty about what a mind-first view even is that was not clear to me. I will put specific questions down later, but for now, I'm just curious as to whether anyone else felt a bit perplexed in this section of the book.