EARLY CHRISTIANITY: A BOOK WORTH READING! Larry Hurtado is Professor Emeritus of New Testament Language, Literature and Theology at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland). Hurtado is the author of several well-respected works including the seminal Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity. The following interview revolves around one of Hurtado’s latest books, Destroyer of the gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World. Scot McKnight did some blog posts on Destroyer of the gods. They can be accessed... Read more

The questions need to be ours, especially as we approach a day of rest: Horribly destructive habits [about busy-ness] start early, really early. How did we end up living like this? Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we do this to our children? When did we forget that we are human beings, not human doings? Whatever happened to a world in which kids get muddy, get dirty, get messy, and heavens, get bored? Do we have to... Read more

A likely stop for Jesus on his way from Capernaum to Jericho: Pictures by Erick Hodge: Sir Hodge Read more

Do you believe in angels? Based on my new book, The Hum of Angels: Listening for the Messengers of God Around Us. Most of us believe in angels, but “most of us” needs to be emphasized. In one of the most highly respected surveys of what Americans believe The Baylor Survey of Religion asked if Americans believe in angels: 88% of women and 74% of men believe in angels. Mixing them together, 82% of Americans believe in angels. 93% of the... Read more

Our Northern Seminary cohort was treated to this sermon by Amanda Hecht in the private garden next to the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem last week. [For those interested in reading on Peter, here’s my #1 recommendation: Larry Hurtado, Peter in Early Christianity. #2: Martin Hengel, The Underestimated Apostle. #3: Larry Helyer, The Life and Witness of Peter.] Now to Amanda. You have probably heard of me. My name was Cephas/Simon; but Jesus liked to call me Peter – the rock. Which... Read more

In the theater of Caesarea Maritima Picture by Erick Hodge: Sir Hodge Read more

https://soundcloud.com/user-212639123/scots-trip-to-israel-kr-41 Read more

By Michelle Van Loon [email protected] and http://MomentsAndDays.org Is instruction in order to prepare for baptism a requirement in your church? If so, who is the focus on that process? If I’d been required to take a series of prep classes or undergo a formal catechism, I wouldn’t have been able to undergo baptism until I was an adult. I became a follower of Jesus as a teen, and my Jewish parents forbade me to attend church as long as I lived... Read more

Tom Goodwin: Living in New York and working in advertising I rarely see people over the age of fifty. My elders seem to be a secret population — a growing, sizable, increasingly healthy and wealthy group — that I’m never exposed to, let alone have the pleasure of working alongside. This is one of the worst things about working in Marketing right now. As an industry we’re obsessed with youth, we’re endlessly trying to get “upwardly mobile Millennials” or “hard... Read more