Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | August 18, 2023
Unintentional Idols “Vanity of vanities. All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes1:2). Various translations phrase it differently such as “futility of futilities”. Very literally the Hebrew (hebel) is “breath of breaths” and the Hebrew is often translated elsewhere as “idol”. I’m not sure how this fits, but there does appear to be some applicable lessons not directly intended […]
PHall | August 18, 2023
The book of Jonah is more about the sins of Jonah than the sins of Nineveh. It is an exercise in self-reflection – Do I love my neighbor as myself? Chapter 4 reveals this clearly when Jonah complains about his plant dying. The gift of shade is gone. The plant provided protection. Part […]
PHall | July 19, 2023
If We Are Living the Problem…. Four is not the answer as to how you spell “butter”. To make sense requires the answer being tied to the question. The epilogue (12:9-14) is not viewed as a holistic part of Ecclesiastes.This is because it is not seen as answering the problem presented. Partly, this is due […]
PHall | July 15, 2023
July 4th is when God gave the 10 Commandments to Israel at Mt. Sinai to announce their freedom from the tyrant King of Egypt. No? Am I getting my history confused? This curious confusion points to similarities between our Declaration and Constitution, and Israel’s 10 Commandments. Read the Preamble in Exodus 20:2, […]
PHall | July 15, 2023
Is my new creation like this old creation? By going back to the old creation in Genesis 1:1-3, we find this progression: 1. God is the creator who brings into existence something out of nothing (1:1). 2. Creation begins with chaos, being formless, empty, and dark…and yet God’s Spirit is there providing hope for the […]
PHall | July 15, 2023
When creating, notice that God is speaking to the environment from which He is bringing life: • God speaks to the earth – Genesis 1:11) Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation”. • God speaks to the water and sky – Genesis 1:20) Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and […]
PHall | July 15, 2023
“That’s not fair”. It is hard to not feel that the punishment from God dealt to the young prophet was a raw deal (1 Kings 13). 1. God told the young prophet not to eat, so he didn’t. 2. The old prophet lied to the young prophet saying God told him he could eat. 3. […]
PHall | June 27, 2023
Monogamy in the past was being true to one person for life. Now it is one person at a time. Divorce in the past was due mostly to someone being unhappy with the person they married. Now it is often due to someone thinking they could be happier with someone else. Society has lost the […]
PHall | June 27, 2023
We live in a chaotic world, but this is nothing new under the sun. Even the writer of Ecclesiastes was troubled by the meaningless he witnessed (1:2-3). Here are three responses to witnessing so much meaningless: 1. Atheism – Aldus Huxley “The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively […]
PHall | June 8, 2023
A country song laments, “Looking for love in all the wrong places”. Another mistake is looking for love in all the wrong order. Even among God’s people, we have made a Western Cultural method of dating into something dangerous. “Dating is for fun!” No, dating is a job interview for life. Genesis 2 […]