On a hill above the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel, archaeologists have discovered one amazing floor mosaic after another.
CHR Comment: These synagogue mosaics are described as “Roman Era,” which makes them contemporary with the rise of Christianity in the Near East. They illustrate the character of Judaism and worship at this time.
Source: Bible Scenes Uncovered in Ruins of Ancient Synagogue
Today is the most important day in European politics since the collapse of the Soviet Empire.
CHR Comment: Editor R. R. Reno attempts a broader historical and theological evaluation of the Brexit issue, drawing on Augustine’s City of God.
Source: Britain Votes on Brexit Today. Here’s What’s at Stake | R. R. Reno | First Things
A team of experts begins restoring the ancient tomb in Jerusalem where Christians believe Jesus was buried, in the first such works for 200 years.
CHR Comment: Work on the Edicule was delayed due to disputes between the Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Roman Catholic groups that are responsible for it. This is one of the sites where Jesus may have been buried. Scholars have proposed other locations.
Source: Jesus’s tomb in Jerusalem undergoes restoration work – BBC News
The Book of Acts opens with two events of great salvation-historical importance: the going up of Jesus from earth into heaven (the Ascension), and the coming down of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples (Pentecost). Both events are commemorated by Christians in this season of the year. Jesus’s resurrection from the dead inaugurated God’s new beginning, which the New Testament calls “the last days.” . . . .
CHR Comment: Timothy George offers an Easter/Pentecost reflection on the Church’s witness to what is history and what is myth, citing the testimony of Barth, Eusebius, Calvin, and Bonhoeffer. His somber reflection on the state of the Church of England gives way to hope in the power of the Gospel.
Source: The One Really Interesting Story | Timothy George | First Things
Israel recommended avoiding all travel to Tunisia before the festival of Lag b’Omer.
CHR Comment: The article briefly mentions that Jews, Christians, and Muslims have lived alongside one another peacefully in this Tunisian city. Jews lived there c. 2,000 years. Christians would have arrived in the first or second century. The Muslim conquests passed through at the end of the seventh century. Since the creation of the modern state of Israel in 1948, the number of Jews living in Djerba has dwindled to c. 1,100.
Source: Pilgrims flock to one of the Arab world’s last Jewish communities
The Blessed Virgin has become a “symbol of unity” in Lebanon.
CHR Comment: The Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon draws both Catholics and Muslims who honor Mary in different ways. The article points out how often Mary is mentioned in the Quran, which has a significant focus on Mary. This is likely due to the rising importance of Mary as a saint and example in early Christianity, which in turn influenced Mohammed as he wrote the Quran.
Source: Why Catholics And Muslims Alike Come To Pray At This Shrine To Mary
When Pope Francis announced his willingness to appoint a commission to study whether women can serve . . . .
CHR Comment: Charlotte Allen summarizes the historic service of women deacon(s/nesses) in view of Pope Francis’s announcement about a possible commission to study whether there might be modern deaconesses. Allen points out that deaconess service was not like that of the male deacons. They mostly did charitable work and served other women, especially at Baptism and in nunneries.
A root of such service may be connected with the enrollment of widows as described in 1 Timothy 5 where older women whose families could not support them were supported by the church while also serving. They are described as abiding in prayer and performing good works (vv. 5, 10).
Source: The True History of Women Deacons | Charlotte Allen | First Things
A new generation of evangelical scholars are challenging the idea that sinners are doomed to eternal torment—but traditionalists are pushing back.
CHR Comment: An extensive article describing traditional, annihilationist, and universalist views that are discussed in British and American Evangelicalism. The traditional view is associated with Augustine, the annihilationist view with Irenaeus, and the universalist view with Origen. The article likewise cites polling about the declining popularity of the doctrine of hell.
Source: The Campaign to Eliminate Hell
A remarkable case report describes the brain activity in a man at the moment that he underwent a revelatory experience. According to the authors, Israeli researchers Arzy and Schurr, the man was 46 years old. He was Jewish, but he had never been especially religious. His supernatural experience occurred in hospital where he was undergoing …
CHR Comment: Neuroskeptic is a Discover Magazine sponsored blog that comments in a popular style on technical neurological studies. In this post, the blogger describes a case where an Israeli man had a religious experience while undergoing a brain scan investigating his epilepsy. The researchers concluded that as a result of the man’s medical condition, he had a delusional experience of seeing God. The blogger speculated about whether this man’s experience was similar to those of biblical prophets who founded Judaism and Christianity.
A key difference between this case and those described in the Bible would be that biblical writers commonly describe religious experiences shared by multiple people such as the entire nation of Israel at Mount Sinai or the crowds that witnessed the miracles of Jesus or saw Him after the resurrection. In the Bible, the truth of a person’s testimony would be confirmed through witnesses (two or three; cf. Deuteronomy 19:15–21; John 5:30–47); a prophet’s claims also had to come true in order to have the trust of the people (Deuteronomy 18:15–22). Although this modern case in Israel is helpful for understanding the religious experiences of some people—and is very interesting—it does not follow that this example explains the religious experiences of all people or that religious experiences are necessarily delusions. For example, if the man’s experience was that he saw himself kicking the winning goal in a football match, that would not mean that others who have similar experience were delusional at the time. Their experiences could be quite real as many of us have witnessed at football games.
“The wealth of inscriptions from the cemeteries attests to the strong Jewish presence and the city’s social elite in the Late Roman period,” says archaeologist.
CHR Comment: The inscriptions illustrate the ongoing use of Aramaic alongside Greek during the era of the late Roman Empire, about the time that Christianity became a recognized religion under Constantine. The latest tomb inscriptions found at Tzipori use the term “rabbi,” though archaeologists are still discussing just what that term means in this era. Tzipori is ancient Sepphoris, a Hellenized city in Galilee near Nazareth.
Source: 1,700-year-old inscriptions linked to ‘rabbis’ unearthed in Galilee – Israel News – Jerusalem Post
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