The Conference sponsored by the Ratzinger Foundation (i.e. Pope Benedict) was designed to focus on the historical Jesus, with more particular focus on Pope Benedict’s three million selling books on Jesus of Nazareth (the last of which was on the Infancy Narratives in Lk. 1-2 and Mt. 1-2). Since I have already reviewed in detail these three books on this blog some time ago (the first book came out in 2005,but I reviewed them more recently), I will let you... Read more

One of the things we did in the afternoon before the gala dinner and tour of the Sistine Chapel was to visit the crypt where St. Peter is believed to have been buried. The entrance way to this underground grave yard or necropolis (which is largely an ancient pagan graveyard… but see my novel Roma Aeterna about the Christian parts of it) is on the outside of the far left side of St. Peter’s near the high altar. Here are... Read more

The largest park area in all of Rome has at its heart the famous Villa Borghese, which today is really the Galleria Borghese, home to lots and lots of art, including some famous Bernini statues. You take the Metro to the Piazza del Popolo, and then its the upward call of God for you… up the hill to the huge park, even bigger than Central Park in NY, which includes lots of mansions now turned into ristorantes and museums. It’s... Read more

Sunday, 10 November 2013 Scientific vandalism How the IAA and Israeli Police wrecked the James ossuary Stain of stupidity: The red smear left by the application of silicon by the Israel Police Forensics Laboratory in their fruitless attempt to prove forgery has contaminated the word “Yeshua” (Jesus) inscribed on the ossuary and destroyed much of the little patina that remained BY MATTHEW KALMAN Tel Aviv It could be the earliest inscription of the word “Jesus” ever found, but we may... Read more

No matter how you cut it, the Sistine Chapel is one of the great frescoes of all time. Yes, Michelangelo nicked some ideas from Signorelli’s Apocalypse Chapel in Orvieto. But still the execution of this amazing masterpiece is stunning. Imagine lying on your back for days at a time doing this one little square at a time. And if you understand the process of fresco, it’s like painting on wet plaster… check that, it is painting on wet plaster of... Read more

I am happy to tell you that the James Ossuary, after a ten year battle, has finally been returned to Oded Golan, its rightful owner. Unfortunately, according to Golan, it has been allowed to deteriorate while in the hands of the IAA. It may or may not be up to more rigorous tests. We shall see. A decade has been wasted on a fruitless trial. Matthew Kalman has sent me his article which just appeared in the NY Daily News.... Read more

Why are these guys smiling? Well first let me tell you who they are– they are some of the few Protestants invited to Pope Benedict’s conference on the historical Jesus. There were, by my count, only four American Protestants invited, all Evangelicals— from left to right you see Darrell Bock from Dallas, Eckhard Schmidt (not an American!) Paul Anderson from George Fox, and yours truly from Asbury. Of these, only Paul and I were asked to do papers (two Canadians... Read more

By now the Marvel formula is clear— a little smash and dash, a little romance, a little pathos, a little humor (actually this one has got more than a little), a cameo appearance of Stan Lee himself (this time as an inmate in Bedlam, the insane asylum in London), and of course a trailer after the first credits giving a preview of the next installment of the now burgeoning Marvel film series. Of course there is something different about the... Read more

Remember Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer? Two river rats that have adventures along the muddy Mississippi. Well ‘Mud’ is in various ways a story much like some of Twain’s tales, focusing on two young boys, in this case Ellis and Neckbone of Dewitt Arkansas. They run into a man called Mud (brilliantly played by Matthew McConaughhey) hiding out on an island in the river, running from the Law. Seems he killed a man who was abusing his girlfriend. But, even... Read more

Once you are in the Vatican, you have to go to see St. Peter’s, one of the largest churches in the world. We may talk about mega-churches, but we have no idea. This is the mother church for four billion Catholics. Yes, I said billion. No Protestant denomination or even Orthodox one is even close in size. Yuliya and I were given permission to have 30 minutes in St. Peter’s by ourselves. The picture above is of course of Peter,... Read more