Trent Wilde Blog

This is the audio version of Trent Wilde's blog. Topics include philosophy, scripture, history, health, science, translating ancient Hebrew, and anything related to bdsda.com.

"In the Counsel of Wrongdoers" - "Psalm 1" (NABT) 10/13/2023

"In the Counsel of Wrongdoers" - "Psalm 1" (NABT) 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: Different Ways to Follow the Podcast: Music by Trent Wilde /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/28305383

Ain't Done Gone - "Psalm 1" (NABT) 09/07/2023

Ain't Done Gone - "Psalm 1" (NABT) 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: Perfective Done (Yale Grammatical Diversity Project): /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/27974673

Cheers For The Man Who... - "Psalm 1" (NABT) 08/14/2023

Cheers For The Man Who... - "Psalm 1" (NABT) 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 /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/27751797

Not A Bible Translation of "Psalm 1" 07/26/2023

Not A Bible Translation of "Psalm 1" 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: Family Tree of English Bible Translations: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/27568680

Before Spirit Was Spiritualistic Series 06/17/2023

Before Spirit Was Spiritualistic Series This is an introduction to, and overview of, our recent series Before Spirit Was Spiritualistic: Philosophical Materialism from Genesis to Jesus. Blog Article - Before Spirit Was Spiritualistic: Philosophical Materialism from Genesis to Jesus Playlist - Are You Minding What Matters? YouTube Channel - Jeremiah Against Orthodoxy (Ancient and Modern) - /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/27179868

Who May Travel Into Yahweh's Tent? 01/03/2023

Who May Travel Into Yahweh's Tent? 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: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/25498602

God: A Purely Material Person 10/07/2022

God: A Purely Material Person 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: You can watch the recordings of the (now finished) Zoom Series at this link: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/24624231

Jesus: A Purely Material Person 10/07/2022

Jesus: A Purely Material Person Jesus and his early followers understood him to be a purely physical being, having no non-physical aspect. Blog Article: You can watch the recordings of the (now finished) Zoom Series at this link: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/24620232

Resurrection: The Only Hope of Future Life 10/05/2022

Resurrection: The Only Hope of Future Life 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: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/24600771

To Dirt You Will Return (Israelite Anthropology) 10/04/2022

To Dirt You Will Return (Israelite Anthropology) 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: You can watch the recordings of the (now finished) Zoom Series at this link: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/24578730

Cognitive Kidneys (Israelite Anthropology) 10/01/2022

Cognitive Kidneys (Israelite Anthropology) 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: All verses are from Not A Bible Translation - my own translation. /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/24554892

Israel's Despiritualizing Philosophy 10/01/2022

Israel's Despiritualizing Philosophy The truly radical philosophy in ancient Israel wasn't monotheism; it was materialism - a wholesale despiritualization of the world. Blog Article: 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 /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/24552918

Dirt You Are (Israelite Anthropology) 09/28/2022

Dirt You Are (Israelite Anthropology) 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: You can watch the recordings of the (now finished) Zoom Series at this link: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/24522858

The Denial of Time 07/23/2022

The Denial of Time 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: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/23834993

The Possibility of Moral Change 06/17/2022

The Possibility of Moral Change This podcast contains the first part of Are You Minding What Matters? Lesson Three: Our Moral Possibility. Blog Article: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/23466281

Why Early SDAs Rejected Trinitarianism 05/28/2022

Why Early SDAs Rejected Trinitarianism 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: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/23255789

Non-Trinitarians Who Say The Holy Spirit Is A Person 05/14/2022

Non-Trinitarians Who Say The Holy Spirit Is A Person 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: Modalism: Sabellianism: Patripassianism: Tritheism: Arianism: Holy-Spirit-is-an-angel-ism: Holy Spirit as Angel in Islam: R. A. Underwood's The Holy Spirit A Person (with my introduction): /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/23110754

What is Trinitarianism Anyway? - SDA Holy Spirit Debate Now vs Then 2 05/08/2022

What is Trinitarianism Anyway? - SDA Holy Spirit Debate Now vs Then 2 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: Is Jesus As Old As His Father? (from ) Video: Podcast: Was God Both On His Throne And Visiting Babel Simultaneously? (from ) Video: Podcast: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/23040743

2022 Unleavened Bread Projects 05/01/2022

2022 Unleavened Bread Projects This episode introduces five projects published by Branch Davidians during the Feast of Unleavened Bread 2022. Blog Article: The Two Flood Stories in Genesis Video: Podcast: When You Said, "The COVID Vaccines Aren't FDA-Approved!" video: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/22964717

SDA Holy Spirit Debate Now vs Then 1 04/16/2022

SDA Holy Spirit Debate Now vs Then 1 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: J. H. Waggoner's Letter to James White: Youtube Playlist for Trent Wilde Blog Podcast Videos: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/22810130

What Did Ellen White Teach about the Personality of the Holy Spirit? 03/26/2022

What Did Ellen White Teach about the Personality of the Holy Spirit? 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: More on the Holy Spirit: Follow/Subscribe: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/22579901

What is the SDA Doctrine of the Personality of God? 03/19/2022

What is the SDA Doctrine of the Personality of God? 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: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/22500806

Offerings of Truth from the Feast of Tabernacles 2021 03/11/2022

Offerings of Truth from the Feast of Tabernacles 2021 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: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/22422683

Houteff Against Alternative Medicine - Davidian History Day 02/26/2022

Houteff Against Alternative Medicine - Davidian History Day 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: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/22264931

What Happened on Oct. 22, 1844 is Not Immaterial 02/18/2022

What Happened on Oct. 22, 1844 is Not Immaterial 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: Materialism: Our Forgotten Foundation: Personality of God tag: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/22181426

How Can We Know Things About The Past? 01/21/2022

How Can We Know Things About The Past? The past is gone... So how can we know anything about it? And what do tree rings have to do with this? Blog Article: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/21817454

Are There Literal Translations? (continued exchange with Edward D. Andrews) 01/01/2022

Are There Literal Translations? (continued exchange with Edward D. Andrews) 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: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/21648083

My Response to Edward D. Andrews on Translating Genesis 1:1 12/25/2021

My Response to Edward D. Andrews on Translating Genesis 1:1 The issues include: Clear Communication Translation Philosophy Details of Translating Genesis 1:1 Blog Article: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/21596993

Materialistic Theism in the Philippian Christ Hymn 12/11/2021

Materialistic Theism in the Philippian Christ Hymn 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. Blog Article: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/21452045

When You Said, "COVID Vaccines Aren't FDA-Approved!" ... 11/13/2021

When You Said, "COVID Vaccines Aren't FDA-Approved!" ... A call to honesty regarding our motivations and reasoning. Blog Article: /episode/index/show/trentwildeblog/id/21153410

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