2024-03-30T17:46:00-07:00

Yesterday’s Good Friday and tomorrow’s Easter can elicit some deplorable history about Christian persecution of Jews because of the death of Jesus of Nazareth. Passion plays during medieval times were popular in Europe. They often depicted Jesus’s arrest on Thursday evening, his interrogation and condemnation by the Jewish Sanhedrin throughout the night, Roman Governor Pontius Pilate’s questioning of Jesus on Friday morning, and the ten stations from there to the crucifixion scene at Golgotha, with Jesus carrying the crossbeam of... Read more

2024-03-29T11:49:51-07:00

Happy Good Friday! It sure didn’t seem that way to the eleven apostles, especially Peter, when they saw Jesus arrested late Thursday night in the Garden of Gethsemane by a contingent of Jewish guards from the temple at Jerusalem and Roman soldiers from its adjacent Antonio Fortress. Fearing for their lives, they fled the scene just as Jesus had predicted they would. He had quoted to them from Zechariah 13.7 by declaring, “You will become deserters because of me this... Read more

2024-03-27T11:31:54-07:00

Yes, Donald Trump just announced he is selling a “God Bless the USA Bible” for $60 to raise money. It has the King James version (which is rather outdated) and a handwritten version and copies of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Pledge of Allegiance. I wonder if it says, “Make America Great Again.” Actually, he’s added to it—”Make America Pray Again.” That’s what he said in his announcement. Now he’s got MAGA and... Read more

2024-03-26T22:19:38-07:00

The Growing Rupture in American Jewry Peter Beinart writes in The New York Times today of “The Great Rupture in American Jewish Life.” He explains, “The emerging rupture between American liberalism and American Zionism constitutes the greatest transformation in American Jewish politics in half a century. It will redefine American Jewish life for decades to come.” This growing divide in recent decades has recently been exacerbated by the ongoing Gaza war that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) is waging against... Read more

2024-03-25T07:14:10-07:00

Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ” film, released in 2004, was a most unexpected smash hit. It garnered over $600 million in box office receipts on a measly budget of $30 million. Gibson reportedly couldn’t muster support for the film concept in Hollywood and thus bankrolled it mostly himself. The film would have been a total dud since Gibson was hell-bent on filming it in the Aramaic language. But supposedly due to insider criticism, he relented and produced it in... Read more

2024-03-17T21:50:10-07:00

  Defending champion Scottie Scheffler made history just minutes ago by coming from way behind today to shoot an 8-under par 64 for a 20-under par 268 total at the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Florida, to win the 50th Players Championship by one stroke over three players: Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele, and Brian Harman. It was a very exciting finish. For a while, the television coverage of the tournament was focused mostly on the last pairing, a twosome of... Read more

2024-03-17T21:50:48-07:00

The Worst Mistakes in Golf The two worst mistakes pro golfers can make in golf tournaments is to be more than five minutes late to their tee times or sign their scorecards having a lower score than they actually made. The penalty for both mistakes is severe: disqualification. There are other mistakes golfers can make that don’t have such a severe penalty, but they still can add strokes to their score. If you watched the PGA Tour’s marquee event today... Read more

2024-03-16T08:34:12-07:00

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), a Jew, gave a critical speech yesterday to the U.S. Senate about Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his conduct of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It was, in my opinion, right on the mark. Now, I’ve always been an independent voter who voted mostly Republican. Yet I think Democrat Chuck Schumer is a pretty good politician who has some wisdom and, being Jewish, he has more insight into what is best... Read more

2024-03-15T01:19:05-07:00

  My Friend Dr. James Tabor I have been a friend of Dr. James Tabor for about 40 years. Since 1989, he has been the Professor of Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He retired in 2022. Yet he continues his work by means of his Tabor Blog, producing videos, and perhaps still doing some archaeological work in the Holy Land, which he has done much in the past. The wikipedia article about... Read more

2024-03-14T22:46:14-07:00

Three PGA Tour pros are leading the first round in The Players Championship today after carding a seven-under par 65 at the Tour-owned TPC Sawgrass located at Ponte Vedra, Florida. They are four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, and current U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, and consistent Exander Schaufelle. All three are currently among the top contenders in the four major golf tournaments in the world, and this tournament is often regarded as “the fifth major.” After Exander Schaufelle’s round today,... Read more


Browse Our Archives