Latest articles byDr. Zachary Porcu
What is sexual fasting? On abstinence in marriage
If you’ve been around traditional religion enough, you may have gotten the sense that “the church” is not a huge fan of pleasure. Restrictions on food, alcohol, or sex can give the distinct impression that Christianity is again...
What is the Walk to Emmaus weekend Cursillo retreat?
In the early twentieth century, there was a movement in Catholicism to develop what they called a “cursillo”, which means a “little course” (as in a course of study). A cursillo was a three-day weekend retreat, grounded in a se...
Jesus flipping tables at the Temple: What did it mean?
Whether you’re a Christian or not, it’s an indisputable fact that Jesus is the number one most influential person to ever live. One easy way to measure this is to measure the number of books that have been written that are base...
Who was Amoz father of Isaiah in the Bible?
Who was Isaiah's father? Amoz is one of those Biblical figures that is connected to prominent figures in the Bible, but himself is someone that we know very little about. Explicitly he is only mentioned a handful of times – thi...
Are curses real? What the Bible says about cursing
When people talk about “cursing” they usually mean “bad words” or “foul language”, but that is a modern perspective. In the ancient world, a curse was a very specific thing, something you did to someone in the sense of “putting...
"A man shall leave his father and mother." What does it mean?
What does the Bible mean when it says “a man shall leave his father and mother” and that him and his wife will become "one flesh"? In short, the Bible sees marriage as creating a new single unified body out of two individual bo...
What are the best Bible verses for men?
The Bible is not really one book, it’s a collection of many books across many time periods, cultures, and genres. There’s much of the Bible that’s specifically encouraging across a wide range of different situations, both in pr...
What is Gilgal in the Bible?
Gilgal, like many locations mentioned in the Old Testament, is difficult to pin down. It’s mentioned all throughout the history of ancient Israel. Books of the Bible that mention Gilgal: Book of Joshua, chapters 4 and 5 Book o...