Exploring the Bible

[Excerpt from "The Bible - Some Assembly Required" ] The early Christian church was no stranger to oppression and persecution. Jesus had been beaten and crucified, which the religious leaders of the time hoped would put a stop to this new cult. When Jesus rose from the dead on Easter morning, He destroyed these hopes and plans. Unfortunately, the opponents of Jesus were not so easily silenced. Their violence continued as is evident by the death of Stephen, James and also with the persecution of Christians by such people as Saul, who in a short time would become one of the new church's greatest leaders. Throughout the early years and even centuries of the Christian church there were many who opposed it. Not only were they opposed and persecuted by the Jewish religious leaders, but also by the Roman government. Under rulers such as Nero and Diocletian, Christians were stripped of their property and legal rights. They were often imprisoned, and many put to death. Because of ...

The Beatitudes are a group of teachings recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. In perhaps His best known sermon, The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught the people and gave them a short list of eight teachings. Each of these eight teachings begin with the word 'Blessed". The word 'Beati' is the Latin term for happy, rich, or blessed. This term was eventually lengthen to become Beatitudes.  Four of the Beatitudes recorded in the Gospel of Matthew are repeated in the Gospel of Luke when he records the Sermon on the plain. The Gospel of Luke also contains a list of four woes, or counterparts to the Blessing listed in the Beatitudes. Each of the Beatitudes has two parts, a condition and a result. In the Gospel of Matthew he lists the eight Beatitudes which are followed by two additional blessings, but these are traditionally considered to be separate from the Beatitudes. In some newer translations of the Gospel these blessings are included as a ninth Beatitude.  The purpose of t...

  Saint Catherine's Monastery The St. Catherine's Monastery is located is the shadow of Mount Sinai. It has the distinction of housing the oldest continuously used library in the world. It is also one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world. The monastery was constructed between the years of 548 and 565 A.D. and its library contains thousands of ancient manuscripts and books. Unknown until very recently, was that some of these manuscripts contain very valuable and extremely rare secrets. These secrets include languages long lost to history.  The Monastery is controlled by the Church of the Sinai which is a branch of the Greek Orthodox Church . The complex was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002. It is named after Saint Catherine of Alexandria. According to tradition Saint Catherine was a Christian saint and virgin. She was martyred sometime in the early 4th century by emperor Maxentius. Prior to her death at the age of 18, Catherine is said to have lea...

The Nazareth Inscription, sometimes called the Nazareth decree, is a first century marble slab inscribed with a warning about stealing corpses. It is inscribed by an unknown Caesar and has been dated to the first century A.D. or perhaps as early as the late first century B.C. Some have claimed the inscription is proof of the resurrections of Jesus and is a direct reference to His missing body on Easter morning. Now new scientific test have caused a great many to question if the inscription refers to Jesus, or another incident entirely. Some are saying the new study debunks any reference the inscription has to Jesus and are making many bold claims, but before making too many assumptions, we should first carefully examine all the facts of the case. The marble slab is inscribed with a rather lengthy decree by Caesar stating that anyone found guilty of stealing a body (corpse) can and should be put to death. The inscription is written in rather poor Greek. Edict of Caesar It is my decision...

The Christmas Story is a story of hope, redemption and Joy. It is also a story shrouded in mystery.  In the Gospel of Matthew we learn of the Magi who visit the Holy Family after following a star to Bethlehem. This is an amazing story of the birth of Jesus, but can any of this story be confirmed by historical records or scientific analysis? Who were the Magi, where did they come from, and why did they make the trip? Was there an actual star or astronomical event which matches the Biblical description of the ‘Christmas Star’? Can any of these events, if confirmed, help us establish when the birth of Jesus actually took place? "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, Where is the one who was born King of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  (Matthew 2:1–2) The Magi, often referred to as the wise men, traveled from the east, most probably from the area of Bag...

There have been a great many archaeological and scientific discovers associated with the Bible, biblical lands, and the people involved. These discoveries have helped us confirm various historical elements of the Bible and also to bring the Bible to like for many. Believers all over the world devour news of new discoveries and new artifacts. This eagerness, both on the part of onlookers and scientist as well, creates the potential for mistakes. In some cases the mistakes are honest, people coming to the wrong conclusion or stating something as fact before all of the evidence is in. In other cases, the mistakes are intentional, done with the sole purpose to deceive. In some cases it is just to promote a certain ideology or to discredit another. In most of these instances the motivation is pure and simply, greed. In recent years there have been a number of scandals involving biblical artifacts as well as scientific findings relating to the Bible, or to biblical stories. Such instances ar...

The Biblical Lands of the 1st century are often thought of as a period of simplistic people, limited scientific knowledge and little if any technology. Some critics point to this as a potential reason for how a charismatic person, such as Jesus, could have such a profound affect on the people of His day. The idea of this time period being simplistic is a major misconception. While it is all but impossible to gauge the mental ability of these people as individuals, it is perhaps possible to use another method to help us judge the sophistication of this time period. In many cases, the advancement of a people or culture is based on the tools and instruments they made and used. In this case, we will not look so much at the tools of the day, but the technology. There are many examples of amazing technology present during the time when Jesus walked the earth. These include chemical warfare, literature, engineering, medical sciences, world commerce, electronics and even an early form of a com...