Quran Read-Along: Is Al’-Imran 181-189 Talking About the Jews?

Slay Them Prophets Whenever I see talk of slaying prophets, I immediately think of the accusations leveled against the ancient Israelites and assume that we must be talking about them. This would also fit, in parts of the Bible, with, “God is poor while we are rich.” For instance, during the Conquest of Cana’an that happens in [...]

Around the World Pic: Cyrus (my cat) Next to Another Picture of Himself

For those of you who don’t know him, this is my cat, Cyrus. He’s much bigger and fluffier now. He’s standing on an open Bible next to a picture of himself up on my computer screen. The other thick-ass book behind the computer is the completed works of Aristotle (highly recommended) and then a Hebrew [...]

Around the World Pic: New Years ’08, Rockin’ Out in J-ru

Oh, aren’t celebrations wonderful. I’m the one at the front looking backwards all confused. This is New Years ’08 – that’s right, the year before last. After all, it is January, the month of Janus, the god of doors, the god of beginnings and ends, and the god who looks forwards and backwards, and so [...]

Fun with the Bible: Happy Hanukah Book of Daniel – When Were You Written?

Today’s Agenda I know that last week we talked about the plagues from the Exodus story (yes, the story, not the book, since we looked at Psalms), and that I promised to continue with that theme over the next few weeks. However, it’s Hanukah, and as such, I thought a brief digression into the materials [...]

The Book of Deuteronomy is Found and King Josiah Reforms Israel

Boy is this topic endless and fascinating but I’m just going to give you a teaser and to really enjoy and appreciate its depth you’re going to have to do a little legwork on your own. But WAIT! If you don’t want to do legwork there’s still fun to be had with the Bible, so [...]

Religion in the News: Monks Brawl at Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Where Jesus was Supposedly Crucified

As many of you know, I used to live in Jerusalem. I did my masters at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. One of my favorite places to visit in the city, and one of my absolute favorite to bring visitors, was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was such a fascinating place with so [...]

Acts 2, the Coming of the Holy Spirit and the Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai – Wait! Where Did These Connections Come From

The Background The first scene in Acts 2:1, we are told in the opening line of the chapter, takes place on the day of Pentecost, which is the fiftieth day after the death of Jesus, which we should remember happened at Passover. In Jewish tradition, Pentecost corresponds to a very important holiday about the harvest, [...]

Religion in the News: The Dead Sea Scrolls, One of the Greatest Finds of All Time, Are Coming to the Internet

I know, it’s exciting, but we’ve all go to keep our pants on. Okay, okay. This may not be as exciting to some of you as it is to me, but this is a really big deal. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947 in caves above the Dead Sea by a Bedoin, are perhaps [...]

A Joke: Finkelstein and Jesus

Jesus was wandering around Jerusalem when he decided that he really needed a new robe. After looking around for a while, he saw a sign for Finkelstein, the Tailor.  So, Jesus went in and made the necessary arrangements to have Finkelstein prepare a new robe for him. A few days later, when the robe was [...]

Around the World: The Acropolis in Athens is an Incredible Place

Greece is a spectacularly beautiful place. Most of my time there was spent hopping around a few islands, and I only spent about 4 hours in Athens before I caught a plane to London at the end of my trip. All I really cared to do was explore the ancient forum and climb up to [...]