Shame on TIME Magazine for this headline which is refuted in the second sentence of the article. And you wonder why people hate the media?
Anyway, two nails were found which might be crucifixion nails and might have been in the bone box of a tomb which might have been Caiaphas’s, “the jurist who paved the way for the crucifixion.” Enough question marks in this one to walk the other way quickly. The tomb was originally found in 1990, but incredibly:
“Researchers from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) listed everything found in the cave, including two Roman nails. But unlike everything else in the grave, the nails were otherwise unaccounted for. They were not measured, sketched or photographed, and nowhere to be found in the IAA’s vast collection.”
And now they turn up in the hands of an Israeli TV journalist.
Jeff Meyers wrote a review of the film Of Gods and Men which was published today. The opening paragraph is, to me anyway, a powerfully lucid description of where we are today. Take it away, Jeff:
“For a nation that swears by its Christianity, it amazes me how frugally that righteousness is wielded. While many on the hard religious right speak long and loud of sinful things they see in others, it’s hard not to notice that the issues riling them most are those that cost them the least. Never mind feeding the hungry, tending to the sick or sheltering the poor, there are gay marriages and contraceptives to be stopped, books to ban, and Qurans to be burned. It’s morality on the cheap, a Wal-Mart approach to faith that never asks for meaningful sacrifice, only smug and certain condemnation. A penny saved is a penny you don’t have to share with anyone else … especially those who might have dark skin or liberal ideas.”
Today our iPads and smart phones make a pad of paper and pencil seem quaint. We cackle at the days of Abraham Lincoln where young pupils scratched on a piece of slate with chalk. But can you imagine books with pages made of metal? A recent find of 70 lead codices have some archaeologists drooling at what might be a major discovery of early Christian history. Given the recent trend of such discoveries turning out to be hoaxes, scientists are proceeding with caution, trying to verify their authenticity.
What could these tiny books be?
“The codices turned up five years ago in a remote cave in eastern Jordan—a region where early Christian believers may have fled after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. The codices are made up of wirebound individual pages, each roughly the size of a credit card. They contain a number of images and textual allusions to the Messiah, as well as some possible references to the crucifixion and resurrection. Some of the codices were sealed, prompting yet more breathless speculation that they could include the sealed book, shown only to the Messiah, mentioned in the Book of Revelation.”
The Apostle Peter was illiterate, and therefore could not have written two letters (1 & 2 Peter) credited to him in the Bible.
Six of the Pauline letters in the New Testament are forgeries.
The First Book of Timothy, known to be a forgery, is still used today to oppress women, and provides the Scriptural basis for the Roman Catholic Church’s refusal to ordain female priests.
Sounds like another interesting read for the open-minded.
Personally, I don’t mind all that much when songs have profanity in their lyrics–as long as kids aren’t listening to them. Cee Lo’s “F*&^ You” from late last year is a perfect example. It’s ridiculously catchy and the profanity, to me, is more comic than offensive. But, realizing he could widen his market by removing the naughtiness, he recorded “Forget You” with Gwyneth Paltrow. Still catchy, but it lost a bit (or all) of its punch.
If that version was still too much for you, check out GMDOCNICE’s video below. WARNING: you will have to suffer through a 1:20 setup that Christians will definitely not like. But, like I said, it’s a setup for the “Bless You” song to follow.
The title of this post is a new term for me. Jack Watts, author of a new book Recovering from Religious Abuse: 11 Steps to Spiritual Freedom, defines religious abuse as:
“the mistreatment of a person by someone in a position of spiritual authority, resulting in the diminishing of that person’s sense of well-being and growth – both spiritually and emotionally.”
or
“misuse of Scripture that harms a person’s relationship with God.”
There’s a whole article on the topic over at The Christian Post including the anecdote about kids being lectured by a priest about the correct way to take communion. “You don’t want to drop Jesus on the floor, do you?”
Interesting that Watts’s book is available at Barnes & Noble, but not at Lifeway Christian book stores.
I’m a little late to this story, but am glad I stumbled into it today. Over the weekend, the New York Times carried a piece on Pastor Rob Bell’s new book “Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.”
In it, he writes that it is:
“misguided and toxic [that] a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better.”
Interesting right? Especially since Bell is a popular, quasi-celebrity evangelical preacher who leads the Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan numbering 10,000 members.
Predictably, the blogosphere and Twittersphere are going crazy. Read the full article to see what all the fuss is about.
The nefarious deeds of the Westboro Baptist Church are legion, but I think the Supreme Court got it right when they ruled (8-1) to defend the church’s protests under the protection of the First Amendment.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion:
“Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and — as it did here — inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. As a nation we have chosen a different course — to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”
Justice Samuel Alito was the lone dissenter:
“Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case.”
The price for free speech can be mighty steep at times. As we let this ruling sink in, the folks at Westboro Baptist Church might do well to review Jesus’ teachings on peace, love, and tolerance.
The subject of this post should be too silly to even consider, but the opening of this article by Father Dennis Faker documents something that’s happening a lot around the world these days. There is a growing crowd that says, “if you’re not exactly like me and believe and do what I do, then you are different/inferior.” Here’s that opening:
“Recently I’ve heard of some of our Catholic parishioners complaining about people coming up to them from other churches and telling them (our parishioners) that they (Catholics) are not Christians.”
Like I said, silly. Know your history. Open your mind. Reach out.
If you want to read Father Faker’s refutation, click here.
The talk on Capitol Hill and around the nation is all about slashing budgets and getting some semblance of control over our deficits. Right now, Congress is evaluating a budget that cuts discretionary spending by 9% while simultaneously increasing military spending by 2%. Domestic programs for the poor fall under the former category.
What would Jesus cut? That’s the question being asked by the good people over at Sojourners. They’ve created a “Take Action” page where you can send a note to your elected officials regarding budget priorities.
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