March 20, 2012

Paul’s Missionary Journeys

By John Paine

Here’s one of the best resources I’ve found for studying the Apostle Paul.  Dale Bargmann created a photo tour that traces Paul’s missionary journeys, with lots of sidebars and original material (Dale is a gifted photographer and has spent quite a bit of time photographing these locations and putting this material together).

Paul's Missionary Journeys

Paul's Missionary Journeys, by Dale Bargmann

To follow in an orderly (Kaqexeß) fashion, read down the left pane, and click the link at the bottom of each page.  Alternatively, use the navigation on the right to jump around.  You will find an amazing number of insightful comments while developing an appreciation for Paul and his ministry by ‘touring’ though this site.

Thanks Dale!

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March 17, 2012

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu

By John Paine

The Apostle Paul was scrawny, hard on the eyes, not a good speaker, and constantly paid the price for his style and message.  He had lots of scars and baggage.  He made mistakes.  He considered himself, “…less than the least of all God’s people .”  And yet he was one of the most influential people who ever lived.  Two thousand years after his death, his letters are among the most reproduced documents in the history of mankind.

In 2 Corinthians 10 Paul responded to attacks against his ministry and his person.  He acknowledged that he was “timid when face to face” (v. 1),  and  that people were saying, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing” (v. 10).

It occurred to me this week, while thinking about Paul, that I had seen and heard someone who fit the description of being a less-than-impressive speaker, but having a powerful message that touched mankind.  Her name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, and she was often called ‘diminutive’.  And like Paul she had detractors.  But she had the courage of her convictions and she was able to demonstrate the mercy and love of Jesus Christ in incredible ways.  And for that she was memorable.

In 1994 she gave a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, attended by President Bill Clinton and a room full of dignitaries.  I remember that I could barely see her head above the podium, could barely make out what she was saying above the acoustics in the room, and that nevertheless she received a standing ovation.  It’s difficult to watch her speech (below) in some respects because she was not an impressive speaker.  But don’t miss the last minute when she stepped down from the podium.

So what did she say?  Here’s the impressive part—her transcript.  Many parts of her message confronted the views of the powerful people in the room, but she delivered it passionately anyway, to please an audience of one.  She had lived through unspeakable suffering to develop her message.  It’s the living Gospel ,with mandates and complete conviction.  Mother Teresa really walked the walk.  And she had a lot in common with the Apostle Paul.

Here’s a photograph of two renowned women—one was a beautiful lady who brought peace and joy to millions of people, and the other was a princess.

Princess Diana Meets Mother Teresa

Princess Diana Meets Mother Teresa

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March 14, 2012

Lost Tomb of Jesus

By John Paine

One of the design goals of this blog is to weave in lots of Chapel DNA.  There are far too many Christian pastors, authors, speakers and bloggers who use their platforms to rail at their enemies.  You won’t find any of that in Dick Woodward’s teaching style—nor Bill Warrick’s.  Dick always says, “You don’t have to put anybody down to lift up Jesus Christ.”

Dick didn’t make this up.  Jesus had a lot to say during the Sermon on the Mount about how to react when people oppose you.  (To hear Jesus’ actual words, click the ‘Listen’ link on the top of this page.)  Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is a lot like boxing with your hands tied.  Expect opposing views.  Sometimes the opposition is confrontational, and sometimes it’s insidious.

The Naked Archaeologist, hosted by Canadian filmmaker Simcha Jacobovichi (who is neither naked nor an archaeologist), was an interesting, entertaining, often frustrating TV show.  It was funny, offbeat, and presented lots of Biblical archaeology.  But every once in a while it would cross the line—playing loose with facts or throwing grenades at the Christian faith and running away with a smirk.  If you’re not a Christian it’s pretty much impossible to appreciate how important the resurrection is to our faith.  The Apostle Paul wrote quite firmly in 1 Corinthians 15 that, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”  This isn’t just poetic language and Paul wasn’t kidding.  Wish more people got it.  Paul died for that message.

Long story short, Simcha Jacobovichi partnered with Hollywood producer James Cameron and they created a documentary claiming that the lost tomb of Jesus had been found.  But as explained in the following video, there were some serious problems with how they put the material together, including clipping experts’ words to make them appear to say things they didn’t say, and smearing the reputations of some very credible professionals in their attempt to prove that Christianity is a farce.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, esteemed archaeologist Shimon Gibson is quick to point out that his work has been misrepresented in the documentary.  Dr. Gibson also wrote, “There is nothing to commend this tomb as the family tomb of Jesus.  At best the names of the ossuaries are suggestive but nothing more.”

Because of the implications, a seminar was held at Princeton in 2008.  I would encourage you to read the proceedings and follow-ups from that event if you have any doubt about this topic.  Trust the professionals—the real archaeologists and epigraphers—not the storytellers.  Neither the bones nor the tomb of Jesus have been found at Talpiot.

Here are additional sources if you’re interested:

Joe Zias Summary

Joe Zias

Miceàl Ledwith

Lawrence Gardner

To the weight of evidence against this claim, I would add my own questions:

  1. What reason would an entire family from Nazareth have to be buried in Jerusalem, 65 miles away (a long way to cart bodies in the first century)?
  2. How could Jesus’ body be laid on a shelf for one to two years to dry the bones prior to being placed in an ossuary—when all detractors could have so easily shut down the uprising by producing the body?
  3. Of the three ossuaries that have been found in Israel bearing an inscription “Jeshua bar Joseph,” why would you pick this one as belonging to Jesus of Nazareth?  And we may as well throw in the 71 other found ossuaries bearing the inscription ‘Jesus’ (according to a 1996 report by the BBC).

But unfortunately, this stuff sells, so here we go again.  As Justin Taylor commented yesterday on his blog they’re giving it another go.

I am grateful for men like Mark Driscoll, Ravi Zacharias and Lee Strobel who resolutely take up the challenges to our faith.  And you don’t have to put anyone down to lift up Jesus Christ.  Often a little light is all that’s needed.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Apologetics, Archaeology

March 11, 2012

12 Apostles

By John Paine

The fate of the 12 Apostles is an interesting topic, and many arguments supporting the reliability of Scripture are built upon the martyrdom of the Apostles as described in extra-Biblical sources and apocryphal writings.  Many of these sources are wildly imaginative and unreliable, but we can learn from them nonetheless.

Sometimes you don’t have to go very far to check things out.  Several months ago, the Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) ran a lead article about the recent discovery of the Tomb of the Apostle Philip in Hierapolis, Turkey, which was updated in this January 2012 Bible History Daily post. The original article mentioned that an interesting artifact depicting the recently uncovered site was on display in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.  This artifact is a sixth-century bronze bread stamp that was found at Hierapolis.  Details about the artifact are summarized in this Discovery News post.  This was too good to pass up, so several friends and I made a day trip to Richmond and came back with the following photograph (shot through the glass with my pocket camera).

Apostle Philip Bread Stamp

Sixth-century bronze bread stamp bearing the image of the Apostle Philip

The 4-inch bread stamp labels the figure in Greek as Hagios Philippos (St. Philip), and another Greek inscription around the edge quotes from Isaiah 6:3: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts; heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.”

You can chase down the fascinating details of this news story—which is still unfolding as the archaeologists continue to work and report their findings—by clicking on the hyperlinks above, and gain insight into what happened to the Apostle Philip (and Bartholomew) after he accepted his great commission.  But that’s not the point of this post.

The point is that Biblical archaeology is a vibrant, richly productive, and ever-changing field—full of ongoing discoveries that shed light on the Bible.  A little effort can go a long way to discovering new, rich insights to the veracity of Scripture.  And sometimes great discoveries are just a click or two on a hyperlink away.

Would you like to see more of these discoveries?  How many of them are there?  Lots!

Sometimes you can Google your way to great information, but sometimes there is more beneath the surface than any search engine can succinctly summarize in response to your search query.  This blog is all about sharing resources, so here are two that provide an ocean of archaeological discoveries for your consideration.  And they both happen to be actively sharing late-breaking information on the cutting edge of Biblical archaeology.

The first source packs great, professional teaching into a searchable, fascinating, contemporary catalog of discoveries.  It’s called (oddly enough) Ferrell’s Travel Blog and the name belies the wealth of top-drawer research that Professor Ferrell Jenkins has tied up in this site.  Spend some time here, and you will discover an indispensable addition to your Disciple’s toolbox.  Rather than just casually browsing through the posts, try jumping off on the side links, and use the Search box to investigate any topic you like.

The second site is also a blog (which I found from Ferrell’s Travel Blog).  It’s called the BiblePlaces.com Blog, and in addition to its energetic reporting of contemporary topics, their treatment and responses to ongoing controversies in the field of Biblical archaeology are impressive.  They are high integrity, and out in front of late-breaking events.  Another impressive addition to your toolbox.

Follow both of these blogs and you will be richly blessed.  Enjoy!

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Archaeology, The Gospels, Tools

March 9, 2012

Trial of Jesus Before Pilate

By John Paine

The Gospel accounts of Easter and the trial of Jesus before Pilate have considerable agreement, and some interestingly unique statements.  While all four accounts agree on the essential details of what happened early in the morning of Good Friday, April 3rd, 33 CE, only Luke records that Jesus was interrogated by Herod Antipas (see Luke’s Sources).  Only John—writing long after the three synoptic Gospel writers—adds the detail of the name of the location in Jerusalem where the trial took place (Gabbatha).  And in writing that one word, John left a great clue for modern archaeologists to find the location of the trial.

There is so much to be gleaned about the veracity of the Gospel accounts from reading about the trial of Jesus.  The accounts are not identical.  But they are not inconsistent.  An argument could be made that if this material was contrived, all four accounts would be more homogeneous in the narrative details.

Archaeologist Dr. Shimon Gibson (mentioned in an earlier post) conducted a dig of the Gabbatha site in Jerusalem, and reached some conclusions that even his critics concede are probably correct, rewickering the traditional Via Dolorosa (“Way of Suffering”) in the process.  This type of work, and online resources, can help us see the Bible in context.

Among all that occurred at His trial, Jesus mocked Pontius Pilate—the judge who had the power to set Him free—with sarcasm.  I don’t know why that detail is so important, but somehow it just is.  Consider the painting below, which may be one of the most correctly detailed paintings of Jesus ever crafted.

If you research the work of Dr. Gibson, be careful—there are high-profile misrepresentations of his work, as he himself is quick to point out.  Unfortunately there are those who seem to be motivated more by the need to entertain than a desire to get the facts right.  This topic keeps coming up, and we will address it in forthcoming posts.

Veracity

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in The Gospels