Apocalypse When??

Click here (NBC) to read about how disappointed apocalypticists deal (or don't deal) with a world that simply fails to end... Might the early Christians have been sympathetic?

Click here (blogspot) for a bunch of apocalyptic cartoons... Any favorites?

Bible and Then Some!

Click here (earlychristianwritings.com) for an excellent web site dedicated to both biblical and apocryphal writings from Christianity's earliest centuries...

A veritable feast of (pseudo-)scriptures!

The Oldest Church?

Click here (BAR), and follow the links, to read about another relatively recent archaeological discovery with huge potential ramifications...

Your thoughts/opinions about this one's credibility?

When in Rome

Click here (UVA) for several neat & informative computer-generated reconstructions of the ancient city, both famous & infamous to the early Christians...

What might Paul & Peter have thought upon first encountering this pagan megatropolis?

Paul's World

Click here (HosannaLutheranChurch) for an in-depth site detailing various aspects of the Apostle Paul's ancient environment...

What catches your eye regarding the logistical opportunities (and hurdles) that Paul faced in spreading the Gospel? How does this website attempt to weave in Paul's journeys with those of their (prospective) congregation members?

Bone Boxes vs Hoaxes

Click here (LATimes) to read about fairly recent developments in a case regarding an artifact that is purportedly linked to the family of Jesus...

What are your thoughts about such a legally, politically, economically, and religiously charged controversy?

Early Christian Hangouts

Click here (YouTube) to get an overview (and underview!) of Rome's grand catacombs...

How might physical environments of the early Christians (such as the catacombs) have influenced their emerging theological self-perceptions?

Ancient Apostles

Click here (YouTube) to get a peek at the recently discovered and oldest-known frescos of Christianity's founding fathers...

Your thoughts/observations about this ancient artwork?

Samaritan Glory

Click here (AlMonitor) to read about the recently opened archaeological site atop Mount Gerizim, a profoundly sacred place to the few hundred remaining members of the Samaritan religious community...

The Greatest (Unread) Book Ever?

Click here (huffpost) to learn about a new survey showing that, when it comes to the Bible, Americans don't always put their reading glasses where their mouths are...

What to make of this disconnect??

Casting Stones

Click here (ASOR) to read one Biblical scholar's critical take on the History Channel's popular new 'Bible' series...

What are your thoughts about such casting choices? About their social impacts and repercussions?

Oldest Christian Writings?

Click on the following links to learn about a remarkable recent discovery in the Jordan Valley... potentially revolutionary (UKDailyMail)? ... or, possibly fraudulent (ExpressUK)...

Your thoughts?

Jesus -v- Pharisees

Click here (DailyMotion) to view Jesus Christ Superstar's popular take the messianic figure's triumphal entry into Jerusalem... along with the tensions it created between him and the religious status quo...

The Temple Jesus Knew

Click here (Crandall University) to browse an informative essay about Herod's massive Jerusalem Temple complex, including many excellent pictures and reconstructions...

What catches your eye regarding this ancient sacred-ritual space?

Early Jesus

• Click here to learn about the oldest known icon of the founder, fully half a millennium after his life.
• Click here to see an ancient fresco, a little closer to the original.
• Click here to learn about a possible (miraculous or fraudulent?) ancient-contemporary version.

What are your own observations and thoughts about this ancient religious iconography?

The Beautiful Book of Kells

Click here (Wikimedia) to access links for some gorgeous pictures of an early 9th Century Irish illuminated manuscript of the Christian Testament's Gospels...

Any art-appreciation that you care to share?

The Amazing Daniel!

Click on any or all of the links below to view the close-calls that faithful Daniel and his friends suffer at the hands of the evil Babylonians:

Daniel 1 (the unclean food)
Daniel 2 (the king's dream)
Daniel 3 (the fiery furnace)

What kinds of purposes might such fantastic tales have served for their earliest audiences? 

Turn, Turn, Turn

Click here (YouTube) to listen to the famous musical rendition of Ecclesiastes (aka, Qohelet) Chapter 1 by The Byrds...

60's pop meets Ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature!

Blake's Book of Job

Click here (gailgastfield.com)to arrive at links (both BW & color) of William Blake's famous illustrations to the Biblical book...

Which ones catch your eye, and why?

The Great Isaiah Scroll

Click here (YouTube) for an informative... if somewhat melodramatic... presentation about the priceless ancient texts from Qumran...

And click here (HebrewUniversity) for a wealth of information about the Dead Sea Scrolls, which include the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible...

Ezekiel's Psychedelic Call

Click here (blogspot) for several artistic representations of the prophet's supernatural commissioning...

Any favorites? Is it worthwhile to attempt to capture Ezekiel's language visually? Why/why not?

Contending Over Ezekiel's Tomb

Click here (NewYorkTimes) for a brief pictorial tour of the reputed final resting place of the Biblical prophet... and competing claims to the site by Jews and Muslims...

Can you think of any ways to navigate such inter-religious tensions successfully?

Assyria's Wrath

Click here (BritishMuseum) to view some of the stark and terrifying stone reliefs depicting the siege and destruction of a major Judahite (southern Israelite) city. These artifacts were excavated from the palace of the mighty Assyrian King Sennacherib (705-681BCE). These calamities are also remembered by the Bible (2 Kings 18-19 and Isaiah 36-37)...

What messages do you think that these reliefs were intended to convey to visitors at the Assyrian palace?

Genesis Death Sandwich

Click here (Discovery) to read about the recent discovery of a literary lurking within the book of Genesis, using computer analysis programs... amazing stuff!

A Prophet's Hometown

Click here (VisualBibleAlive) to view some pics of Tekoa, where Amos got his start [this is also an excellent web site overall for pictures of the Holy Land]...

What are your observations/thoughts about the lay of the land?

The Pope's Prophets

Click here (italian-renaissance-art.com) to view Michelangelo's prophetic masterpieces encircling the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, including both Biblical prophets and Classical oracles...

What are your observations about and/or reactions to the images? to their pictorial settings? to their stylistic features? 

King David's Palace?

Click here (BAS) to read about exciting but controversial archaeological discoveries in Jerusalem, which may (or may not) corroborate some Biblical accounts involving the early Davidic dynasty...

Your thoughts?

David's Contentious City

Click here (CBS) to view a semi-recent 60 Minutes report on the Biblical City of David, and its volatile centrality to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict...

Are ancient scriptural traditions destined to dictate modern secular realities? Can such passionate competing claims ever be resolved peacefully?

Jericho as Cartoon

Click here (YouTube) for a notably lighter take on sacral-ritual warfare...

How do such cartoons promote scriptural education, especially among the young? How might they 'complicate' matters, with respect to the actual contents and tones of the Biblical texts themselves? 

Jericho as Enigma

Click here (NetTours) to learn more about the ambiguous and highly debated archaeology involving the ancient site of Jericho.

Click here (BiblePlaces) for some nice pics/links on the site (n.b.--this is a generally good and informative web site for Levantine Archaeology)...

If the Biblical story is not (entirely) historical, what reasons/motives do you think the author(s) might have had for writing it as they did?

Donkey 1 : Baalam 0

Click here (YouTube) for a humorous (yet generally accurate) take on the foreign prophet Balaam in Numbers 22-24... Enjoy!

Abraham's Resting Place

Click here (bibleplaces.com) for a brief pictorial overview of the Tomb of the Patriarchs located in the southern town of Hebron, a highly sacred (and highly contested) site between both Jews and Muslims (who call the town Khalil, 'friend', in honor of Abraham's/Ibrahim's close relationship with God)...

Do you think that holy sites held in common by Judaism, Islam, and Christianity have the potential to unite peoples of different faiths, or will they forever be flash-points of dispute?

Unearthing the Bible

Sir Flinders Petrie (1853-1942), one of the chief founders of modern Near Eastern archaeology

Click here (YouTube) for a reputable introduction to the study of Biblical texts within the context of other Ancient Near Eastern artifacts...

Do you think that the Bible should 'interpret' archaeology? Vice-versa? Can texts and artifacts speak to each other?

Troublesome Oxen

Click here (PBS) to learn about an ancient Mesopotamian parallel to a famous Biblical law in the Book of Exodus...

What kinds of economic values and social priorities are suggested for the ancient Israelites by the Biblical example? What do the varying compensation rates suggest?

Crossing Paths

Click here (YouTube) to get a glimpse at how some underwater archaeologists are striving to correlate the Biblical texts of the Exodus (14-15) with supposed material artifacts in the Red Sea...

As with the search for Noah's ark, the guiding framework here seems to be historical/material = Real. What are your thoughts about such efforts, and about such interpretations of the Bible?

Mapping the Exodus

Click at the links below to view various attempted reconstructions of the Biblical journey out of Egypt...

What similarities and/or differences do you notice regarding the route(s) proposed? To what extent are the Biblical texts dictating these maps, versus other data?

16th Century map

17th Century map

18th Century map

19th Century map
21st Century map

Searching for Sinai

The precise location of Mount Sinai (aka, Horeb) in the Exodus stories remains disputed by historians. But Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions have long associated it with this site...

Do you think they're accurate? Does it ultimately matter for the Biblical narratives? Why/why not?

And Abraham Begat...

 
Click here (BBC) to learn more about the individual who is revered as the father of all three monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam...

Given their common recognition of Abraham, why do you think there has been so much historical strife between these scripturally related religions?

Alaska Airlines and the Bible

Click here (ADN) to read about the airline's decision last year to cease including scriptural prayer cards with its in-flight meals...

What are your reactions/thoughts about this move, and its motivating factors? What place does/should the Bible have/not have in American daily culture?

Mesopotamia's Deluge

Click on the links below to view short animated snippets from the Epic of Gilgamesh, and ancient adventure story which incorporates even older traditions about the Primeval Flood:

Gilgamesh Pt.8 (YouTube)
Gilgamesh Pt.9 (YouTube)

How directly or indirectly do you suspect such mythic/epic stories and motifs influenced the Bible's Noah and the Ark traditions?

Cosby's Take

Click here (YouTube) for a classic comic midrash on the Biblical story by a young Bill Cosby (1965 on the Jack Parr Program).

Pursuing Noah's Ark

Click here (Fox News) to peek into one of the ongoing disputes between scriptural literalism versus narrative mythology...

How might peoples' differing presuppositions about Biblical authority end up perpetuating such debates?

Science vs. Scripture

Click here (GIRA) to witness one organization's efforts to reconcile one Biblical story's account of creation with the Earth's ancient geological fossil record...

What are your thoughts/opinions (respectfully stated) about appealing to the Bible for such endeavors? Can 'the gap' indeed be 'bridged'? Should it be? Why/why not?

Gardens of Eden

Click here (Science Daily) to learn about a recently discovered ancient garden complex near the holy city of Jerusalem...

Do you think that such historical projects might have had an influence upon the Bible's creation imagery in Genesis 2-3?

Constructing Canons

Click here (HistoryChannel) to watch the introductory portion of Who Wrote the Bible?, a program that delves into questions and complexities surrounding the sacred scriptures...

Do the approach and tone of this program strike you as being more critical or confessional? Why so?

First Printed Bible

Click here (UT-Austin), and follow the links, to browse a copy of the famous Gutenberg Bible, the first book mass-produced in Europe with a moveable type printing press...

What are your observations about the script? The artwork? The technology?