Michael J. Alter – författare

Why does the Torah begin with the letter beit, the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet? In seeking answers to this question, Michael J. Alter has gathered a wealth of material drawing from the Oral Law (Mishnah and Talmud), the Midrash, anonymous kabbalistic texts, and the works of many prominent rabbis, scribes, and writers spanning the past 2,000 years.

Why does the Torah begin with the letter beit, the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet? In seeking answers to this question, Michael J. Alter has gathered a wealth of material drawing from the Oral Law (Mishnah and Talmud), the Midrash, anonymous kabbalistic texts, and the works of many prominent rabbis, scribes, and writers spanning the past 2,000 years.

The Resurrection: A Critical Inquiry is a scholarly work that refutes Jesuss purported physical, bodily resurrection and those writings in support of it. This book is compelling, relevant and current for those readers seeking scholarly refutations of that resurrection. This in-depth work presents the reader with 113 issues. Altogether one hundred twenty contradictions and 217 speculations are examined. Topics include cutting edge research in astronomy, geophysics, criminology and the rules of evidence, the social sciences and cognitive psychology.

Israel is a divine name. The Name Israel is a scholarly, niche project that provides its readers with an informative, meaningful, and spiritually uplifting reading experience. The purpose of The Name Israel is to investigate the name employing four levels of study (PaRDeS): peshat, remez, derash, and sod. Each level is deeper and more profound than its predecessor. This text is divided into eight chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 explore the historical name Israel and pardes (four methods of Bible interpretation). The book also presents details about the shapes and sizes of the letters, permutations of Israel, anagrams, and gematria (numerology). Additionally, it includes a discussion of the Four World system, the ten sefirot, and an overview of parshat Vayishlach (Gen 32:4-33 and Gen 35:10).Throughout, The Name Israel analyzes the first word of the Torah (Bereshit) and the creation process. Readers will be fascinated as it also delves into facts about the numbers 2, 701, 37, 73, and 541; "The end of the action was at first in thought"; unique features (and hints) of the letters forming the name Israel; and concluding remarks. Come and learn!

The keystone of Christianity is Jesus's physical, bodily resurrection. Present-day scholars can be significantly challenged as they forage through voluminous documents on the resurrection of Jesus. The literature measures well over seven thousand sources in English-language books alone. This makes finding specific sources that are most relevant for specific scholarly purposes an arduous task. Even when a specific book is relevant, finding the parts of the book that are most relevant to the resurrection rather than other topics often requires additional effort. A Thematic Access-Oriented Bibliography of Jesus's Resurrection addresses these challenges in several ways. First, the bibliography organizes more than seven thousand English sources into twelve main categories and then thirty-four subcategories, which are designed to help you find the most relevant literature quickly and efficiently. Embedded are pro and con arguments which support efficient access through brief annotations and then annotate the diversity and complexity of the field of religion by including sources that represent a diverse range of views: theistic (e.g., Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc.), agnostic, and nontheistic. The objective of this bibliography is to provide convenient access to relevant sources from a variety of perspectives, allowing you to browse or find the one source accurately and with ease.

The hypothesis of Undesigned Coincidences was first proposed by William Paley (1743-1805) and later popularized by J. J. Blunt (1794-1855). More recently, Lydia and Timothy McGrew have revived this hypothesis. McGrew defines an undesigned coincidence as "a significant connection between two or more accounts or texts that does not appear to have been planned by the individuals providing the accounts. Despite their apparent independence, the elements fit together like pieces of a puzzle." Advocates use undesigned coincidences to argue that the Gospels are a compilation of independent and reliable sources. However, these advocates do not engage with biblical criticism and overlook relevant research on coincidences and casualness. The feeding of the five thousand is a prominent example discussed by proponents, who point to details such as the green grass, the location of Bethsaida, and the question posed by Jesus to Philip. These episodes are thoroughly reviewed and analyzed in The Hypothesis of Undesigned Coincidences.