For the last four years, it hasn’t been very easy (or always safe) to visit Jericho. Today I had the opportunity and took it. The tell hasn’t really changed, but was good to be back and think about related things. Jericho is, of course, famous for being destroyed first in the conquest of Joshua, but… Read More »
It’s 7,594 miles from where I grew up in Camarillo, CA to Jerusalem, according to the calculations of indo.com. This weekend my parents move out of their house of 29 years to the area of Grants Pass, Oregon, which is a 400 miles closer at 7,147 miles. This may not seem right until you realize… Read More »
It started out as a blog, but I opted instead to post it to the BiblePlaces website. There I have some photos and background to the story of the piles of debris on the Temple Mount that came from the illegal excavations in the area of “Solomon’s Stables.” The article is here: http://www.bibleplaces.com/templemountdump.htm
This article by Margreet Steiner, published by Bible and Interpretation, does not start a new debate but it is a new article with a couple of my photos. The article is not long and gives the new “minimalist” position rather clearly. (The old “minimalist” position, adhered to by the teacher of the article’s author, Kenyon,… Read More »
After posting the previous message about the cave, I decided to add this to the BiblePlaces.com website with a few photos (here). In the last few days I’ve added some new links to that page. I’ll include such here as well: Letter by James Tabor, giving details not in published sources Christianity Today Weblog, suspicious… Read More »
The AP published a report yesterday, run by everyone, that an archaeologist had found “the cave of John the Baptist.” You can find it online everywhere, including this CNN page which has 3 photos (also Haaretz and Jerusalem Post). People have asked me what I think, so what follows is my response. I would note… Read More »
If I haven’t written you back yet, I apologize. It’s not for lack of trying. Today I wrote 37 emails, this week 108, and this year 2932. And my inbox is still full. Some are short and easy to write, and some more complicated. Some I like to write; some I don’t. I do wish… Read More »
This was apparently written recently by Dennis Prager and augmented by Clarence Wagner, but I couldn’t find an original online source, so I’ve reproduced it here. Numbers of course don’t tell the whole story, but they are interesting. Number of times Jerusalem is mentioned in the Old Testament: 881 Number of times Jerusalem is mentioned… Read More »
There are maybe two other people who would appreciate this and almost certainly they won’t see this, but nonetheless, for my own amusement, I proceed. I was reading tonight an article in Artifax, sourced to the Jerusalem Post (and here’s an online quotation of relevant section). The article describes the recent excavations of the Pool… Read More »
I have the happy opportunity of being the first in the world to announce the new “BookNotes” – periodic comments on biblical and theological subjects by Dr. Doug Bookman. You can sign up here: www.bibleplaces.com/booknotes.htm or here. Now you might wonder how I got this distinct honor. Good question. Does Bookman know about this? Kinda.… Read More »