Burial in Ancient Israel Part 7: The Burial of Christ
This post concludes a series about graves and tombs in the ancient Levant, from the Paleolithic Period until the time of Christ. The entire series can be found here. This 100,000 year history of human...
View ArticleFrank Moore Cross, Requiescat in Pace
It’s impossible to have even a cursory knowledge of the Dead Sea Scrolls without encountering Frank Moore Cross, who died last Wednesday at age 91 from complications from pneumonia. His work on Semitic...
View ArticleTalmud and Tech
How do we respond to changes in technology that call into question how we understand and practice our faith? Perhaps the example of the rabbinic sages can offer a clue. Daf Yomi is the practice of...
View ArticleAncient Temple Shows Signs of Conflict, Desecration
Excavations at an 11th century temple complex outside of Jerusalem show evidence of the tensions among the Israelites, Canaanites and Philistines. On the floor of the temple… … excavators found shards...
View ArticleBread & Wine | Life & Abundance
The moment when the Lord comes down and transforms bread and wine to become his Body and Blood cannot fail to stun, to the very core of their being, those who participate in the Eucharist by faith and...
View ArticleBread in the Old Testament
Bread was a staple food in ancient Palestine, made daily in every household. It was such a commonplace item that we don’t get details of types, production, and consumption in the Biblical texts. If we...
View ArticleWine in the Old Testament
Bread was the ordinary food of the people, but wine was for celebration. It was a symbol of joy. It was considered so important in the ritual life of the Jews that people had the responsibility to...
View ArticleWine in the Gospel of John
The discussion of wine in the Old Testament provides the background for the Wedding at Cana in John 2, which is rich in OT imagery made new in Christ. The Evangelist tells us that Jesus has come to a...
View ArticleDead Sea Scrolls Heading to Boston Next
I wrote about the Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times exhibit when it visited Philadelphia last year. The scrolls still fascinate because they’re a kind of missing link between the...
View ArticleConviction Upheld in Dead Sea Scrolls Identity Theft
In yesterday’s news about the final stop for the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, I mentioned some of the controversy surrounding scroll scholarship. One of the more bizarre sideshows in the world of the DSS...
View ArticleThe Temple Mount: A Virtual Tour
Courtesy of the Israeli Minister of Construction and Housing and a group called The Heart of the Nation comes this virtual tour of the Temple Mount, complete with 360-degree views of various locations....
View ArticleJew-Hating Has-Been Wants You To Pay Attention To Him
I used to love Pink Floyd and Roger Waters. I collected everything, spent countless hours listening to them, and paid good money to see Waters solo in concert twice (Hitchhiking and Radio KAOS tours)....
View ArticleApostrophe to Zion: New Meaning for a Dead Sea Scroll?
I’m still enjoying Slacktacular August with a reduced blogging schedule, but I thought this was a fascinating little slice of the philology world that shows how scholars grapple with ancient languages...
View ArticleHopeful Signs? UPDATE #2: Not a Hoax
The optimist in me says “yes.” The cynic says, “public relations ploy.” I try paying more attention to the optimist. In any case, it’s welcome. From the President of Iran: It’s worthwhile remembering...
View ArticleMysterious Structure Under the Sea of Galilee
I filed this one away in Evernote this summer and forgot to blog it, but it’s too cool to let pass: A huge, cone-shaped monument has been discovered by a team of Israeli archaeologists conducting a...
View ArticleFrancis/Netanyahu Meeting Cancelled (Actually, It Was Never Even Planned)
Last week, a report began circulating in the Israeli press that President Benjamin Netanyahu would be meeting with Pope Francis when Netanyahu traveled to Rome this week. The report set off a firestorm...
View ArticleJohn XXIII and the Jews
One of the better parts about being a writer is that you get learn things for a living. For example, when Carl Olson asked me to cover a lecture on Pope John XXIII and the Jews for Catholic World...
View ArticleTwo Boys Play Chess: Madness Follows
Matan Poleg (above left) and Omar Eltigani (right) were paired at the World Youth Chess Championships in South Africa last week. They played a game. Poleg won on the 45th move. Outrage ensued....
View ArticleDebunking the Latest “Married Jesus” Hoax
When these stories start to burble up in my RSS feeds, I always swear I’m going to ignore them and wait for them to go away. Just paying attention to them makes people dumber. This one was an easy...
View ArticleNight Will Fall: Watch The Actual “Hitchcock Holocaust Film” Online
By all accounts, the documentary Night Will Fall is an excellent piece of work. It chronicles the production–and suppression–of a vivid and gruesome documentary about the Nazi death camps shot in April...
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