What happens after we die? In the 19th century sex was a taboo subject in polite society. Today talk about sex bombards our society from every quarter, but death has taken its place as the subject which no one wants to talk about. This is rather foolish as the only human experience we can be absolutely sure is going to happen to us from the moment we are born is that at some point life in this...
Can we harmonise the accounts of the resurrection? In order to do this we will go back to the evening before the crucifixion and try to put the characters in place. Much of this reconstruction is based on John Wenham’s book ‘Easter Enigma.’ Thursday evening. On the Thursday night Jesus ate the Passover with the disciples in Jerusalem. Judas left in the course of the meal to arrange Jesus’...
‘Where do you get this idea of a ‘second coming’ from? Was it because Jesus did not succeed the first time that he’s got to have another go? It doesn’t say anything in the Bible about the Messiah coming twice.’ This was the response of a Jewish man I was speaking to when I said that there would be no peace in the world until Jesus comes back again. Maybe he had been reading a book by Rabbi...
David Cameron, visiting Israel on March 19th, urged the Israelis and Palestinians ‘ to take the final difficult steps towards peace. The prize could be great: a stable, prosperous Middle East with a sovereign and viable Palestinian state living in peace alongside a secure Israel at the heart of it.’ On the ground not many people in the region believe those steps will be taken and even fewer...
40 years ago Israel fought the Six Day War, winning an astonishing victory against Arab armies whose aim according to Egyptian President Nasser was stated on 27 May 1967: ‘Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel’. On 7 June 1967 Jerusalem was reunited as Israeli paratroopers captured the Old City of Jerusalem. General Moshe Dayan announced ‘This morning, the Israel Defence Forces...
‘Christianity along with all other theistic belief systems is the fraud of the age.’ So claims the popular film ‘Zeitgeist’ which is attracting over 2 million viewers a month on its Internet site, according to its publicity material. Zeitgeist means ‘Spirit of the Age’ in German. The basic theme of the film is that there is no historical truth in the Bible and that Christianity is used by the...
Wherever you look in the western world you find the influence of yoga. Time Magazine’s book ‘Alternative Medicine’ states about yoga in America: ‘Hard to believe but yoga was once considered heretical, even dangerous. As recently as a century ago yogis in America were viewed with suspicion, some were actually thrown in jail. Today though most gyms offer it, many public schools practice it and a...
Many people today wonder what is the future of our planet. There is widespread anxiety about the financial situation, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism,the environment, social disorder and violence. Any number of world situations could suddenly tip us over into a frightening new crisis which either creates chaos and anarchy or a dictatorial world government with huge technical...
December 25th 0 AD would be most people’s answer to this question. But there isnothing at all in the New Testament to fix the date of Jesus’ birth at this time.There was no celebration of the birth of Jesus during the first two centuries ofthe early church. Speculation on the subject began in the 3rd and 4th centuries,when the idea of fixing Christ’s birthday started. Significantly it was...
The ‘Gospel of Judas’ published on April 6th by the National Geographic Society hasbeen a subject of media attention throughout the world with claims that it is oneof the most significant archaeological discoveries ever. This Coptic translationof an original Greek text written around AD 150-180 was discovered in Egypt in the1970s. It then circulated amongst antiquities dealers before...