The Myth of the Pharisees
Anyone with even a passing familiarity of the Bible has heard about the Pharisees. This group is mentioned dozens of times in the New Testament. They were often bitter opponents…
Not Of This World
In 1961, archeologists were excavating an ancient theater in the city of Caesarea, along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Caesarea became the capital of the Roman province of Judea in…
The Riddles of the Torah
The Bible can be a puzzling book. The Torah - the first five books of the Old Testament - is the most archaic portion of the scriptures. According to tradition,…
Setting Things Right Again
Last week we saw how Jesus' visit to Jericho brought about an extraordinary result: Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector and a man of great wealth, dramatically amended his life. In…
A Portrait of Salvation
Many of us grew up singing about Zacchaeus - the "wee little man"- in Sunday School. His story is found in Luke chapter 19. Jesus was passing through the city…
Looking God in the Face
Over the last two weeks, we've noted how dramatically our understanding of the universe has changed over the last century. Cosmology is defined as the study of the origin and…
The Hubble Revolution
On April 24, 1990, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle's payload bay contained the Hubble Space Telescope. It was a momentous…
The Heavens Declare the Glory of God
The 19th Psalm, attributed to King David, is one of the most well-known. "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after…
Religion and Relationship
There is a very bizarre contemporary trend in some church circles to downplay the fact that Christianity is a religion. Specifically, it's become quite common to hear folks claim that…
The Tears of God
The book of John is partly constructed around a series of miraculous signs performed by Jesus. The apostle describes seven such signs prior to Jesus' death & resurrection. The number…