More on Religion and Spirituality
Is sleep all that we need to recharge our batteries? Or do we need a deeper source of renewal?
History On the Trail of the Easter Bunny April 5, 2012 It’s a short hop from Egyptian hare god to Easter bunny. Easter is considered one of the oldest and most sacred Christian holidays; thus it would seem that a symbol as iconic as the Easter bunny (or, in some countries, the East
From the beginning of human life, people have been required to make decisions.
How can we be certain that the Gospel accounts contained in the New Testament are both authentic and authoritative? Should other records of Jesus and His early followers have been included as well?
Even the urbanized and industrialized Western world has agrarian roots, though most of us have lost any real connection with the land. Still, for the world to survive, we need to reconsider the wisdom of a land-based economy.
It’s been 400 years since the King James Version of the Bible was published in England. What makes it such an enduring translation?
If the winners are the ones who write history, then historical accounts are surely subject to bias and inaccuracy. The history of the church is no exception.
Why is a land-based economy so important? There are significant connections between this way of living and the relationship between man and God.
Belief in everlasting punishment in a blazing inferno is almost as old as humanity itself. But is it based on the Bible’s teachings? What is hell?
The final installment of the series examines the biblical account of the apocalypse, as recorded by the apostle John in the book of Revelation, and of the perfect world that’s prophesied to follow.
The concept of self-control gets considerable attention in the Bible.
What is religion? This module from our online Bible study course, Foundations, explores the answer.
The letters that the apostle John sent to seven churches in Asia Minor late in the first century carried vital messages—messages for survival. And they provide continuing instruction even today.
The last written work of the apostle John was his enigmatic Apocalypse, known to us as the book of Revelation. Why is the book so puzzling, and what is its message for today?
As the last surviving apostle among the original twelve, John was eager to pass on key instruction and understanding to followers of “the Way,” both then and now.
Bible History: Where was Jesus crucified and buried? Most would say the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Garden Tomb, but 1st-century evidence says neither.
In this second installment on the apostle John, we find that the “Son of Thunder” mellowed greatly as he grew older. A closer look at John’s Gospel and the first letter bearing his name reveal not only this personal change but also some of the less positive changes taking place in his late-first-century environment.
Most believers recognize the value of prayer—speaking to God. From our online study series, Foundations, we present a module on the other half of communicating with the Creator.
The apostle Paul said that the creation around us is evidence that God exists. But those who hold to the scientific method for determining facts demand a different standard of proof. Is a scientific approach the best way to establish whether there is a God?
John, the last surviving apostle of the first century, lived a long and challenging life. In this installment, we look at some of his early experiences as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Often thought and spoken of as a mythical place, the Garden of Eden, according to Genesis, is the place where Adam and Eve were created and lived in harmony with one another, the animals and their creator until they sinned.
Who was the real Mary, and why the great disparity of beliefs about her? Which version is the correct one, or does it matter? What we will see is that what one believes about Mary depends in large part on the source of those beliefs.
During the Christmas season, people hear the familiar account of Mary’s role as the mother of Jesus. The popular story uses facts from the first two chapters of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament, but surprisingly little of what is popularly believed about Mary actually comes from the Bible.
The old tradition that the apostle Peter lived and died in Rome took on a life of its own in the second and third centuries, driven by the efforts of one of Christianity’s many early branches to establish preeminence. Vision traces the story of this legendary Peter’s rise to power.
It’s generally thought that the various New Testament writers were anything but united in what they believed and taught. Do their writings bear this out?
The apostle Peter wrote a second letter to the early Church just before his death. And like other New Testament writings, its message is timeless.
Scriptures from Jude and 2 Peter, which demonstrate some of the parallel teachings and similar linguistic expressions of these two New Testament writers.
Jude says he is the brother of James, who was very likely “the Lord’s brother,"
leader of the Jerusalem church and author of the New Testament book of
James. In other words, like James, Jude was one of the other sons of
Joseph and Mary.
The apostle Peter's life is a study in how much a person can change. His writings offer wisdom and advice that are as applicable today as when he penned them nearly two millennia ago.
Another war is brewing in the Middle East, this one pitting Israelis against Israelis and many others in the academic world. The cause of the latest skirmish? A book to be published next month by Israeli academic Rachel Elior of Hebrew University, which questions the relationship of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Essenes.
Sunset on March 9, 2009, marked the beginning of the Jewish holiday known as Purim. A two-day festival commemorated on the 14th and 15th of Adar (according to the Hebrew calendar) Purim dates back to the events recorded in the biblical book of Esther.
What is “the gospel”? Most probably think of it as a message emanating from the New Testament, but in fact it goes back much farther.
Is The Da Vinci Code based on fact, or are its author's claims of accuracy the novel's greatest fiction?
The 60th anniversary celebrations of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) discovery gave occasion to spotlight another archaeological find that has been waiting in the wings for some time. While simultaneously sparking renewed media interest in the scrolls, the stone itself attracted headlines such as “Tablet Stirs Resurrection Debate” and “Ancient Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection.”
Sixty years after their discovery, the Dead Sea Scrolls still spark controversy and debate. What, if anything, have they established so far, and how will they be remembered?
The apostle Peter figures prominently in the New Testament, but he is often portrayed today as being personally and theologically at odds with his colleague Paul. A closer look at the biblical record sheds light on the man and his teachings.
What can we know about James, the first-century writer of one of the general epistles? And what value does his letter have in the 21st century?
Even religions disagree on how to define forgiveness. And the belief systems that claim the Bible as their basis have significantly divergent views on this pivotal subject. So just what does the Bible say?
The world’s largest Christian church bases its claim to authority on the belief that the apostle Peter spent time in the capital of the Roman Empire and founded the church there. Vision examines the evidence for that teaching.
As the apostle Paul’s life draws to a close, he continues to demonstrate his sincere concern for those under his care and for those who will carry on his ministry.
According to the Times Online October 5, 2005, the Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland are warning their five million worshippers, as well as any others drawn to the study of scripture, that they should not expect total accuracy from the Bible.
Though Paul is manacled to a Roman guard, he continues his ministry both in person and through letters to fellow believers in outlying provinces.
The book of Revelation is an enigma to most who read it. Even in scholarly circles, ideas about its meaning and significance abound. Does such a puzzling book have any real value?
The prisoner Paul makes his way to Rome for a hearing before the famous Nero. But what might appear to be the end of the story is really just another beginning.
Theodicy is an unfamiliar word that relates to the question of why a benevolent God would allow evil and suffering to exist in this world.
Unitarianism is not a settled concept of the godhead such as Trinitarians accept. It denies the divinity of Jesus Christ and sees Him as purely a human being.
Would eradicating all forms of religious belief remove terror from our world?
Paul’s final visit to Jerusalem resulted in riots, beatings, imprisonment, hearings before governors and a king, and finally an appeal to Caesar.
In his God Delusion, Richard Dawkins, like others before him, has denied the place of religion in our lives: we as adults should not teach matters of faith to our children. This idea has now been taken up by Hector Avalos, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Iowa State University.
The apostle Paul and his writings have been increasingly prominent at the annual November conference of the Society of Biblical Literature.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947 at Qumran and a part of Israel, are coming to San Diego, California. The San Diego Natural History Museum will be hosting the longest and largest exhibition of the scrolls to date.
The newly translated "Gospel of Judas" is the latest pseudo-Christian text to grab public attention. Like other Gnostic works, it has generated much more than interest.
Book Reviews Should Children Be Taught Faith? Spring 2007 Richard Dawkins’s strongly held conviction is that children should not have an unthinking faith implanted in them, which “requires no justification and brooks no argument.” His view is that religion i
Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins’s book The God Delusion seeks to destroy any arguments in favor of religion and a Supreme Being. Though Dawkins marshals all of his trademark talent for impassioned, witty and lucid debate, there are significant flaws in his logic.
The New Testament records in Acts 13 that Saul changed his name to Paul. Why did he do this?
Would we be better off without religion? That was the subject of a recent debate in London. Vision contributing writer David Lloyd attended the event which featured Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.
Jesus in Context: The True Origins of the Church, a collection of articles on its Web site that attempt to set the record straight and dispel some of the myths and misconceptions that have crept into the story of Jesus and his early followers.
A new book and documentary about the Jesus Tomb just released this week are making some big claims. But biblical scholars and archaeologists are casting an enormous shadow of doubt on the authors' conclusions as more is learned about the facts behind their hypothesis.
The apostle Paul travels to the city of the goddess Artemis to live and teach for three years before making his way to Jerusalem one last time.
The apostle Paul, continuing his travels through Greece, arrives in the ancient cities of Athens and Corinth. His only recorded visit to Athens was a momentous one and the subject of a detailed section in Luke’s account of early church history. How he approaches his respective audiences is in itself enlightening.
Marvin Meyer, Professor of Bible and Christian Studies at Chapman University, Orange County, and one of the leading translators of the Gospel of Judas, outlines some of the background and intrigue that led to the final reconstruction and translating of the Gospel of Judas in April this year.
Most Bible scholars pit the apostles James and Paul against one another. A brief review of the historical record shows the origins of that mistaken idea.
All civilizations and cultures, it seems, developed legends about avoiding our inevitable date with death. Could these accounts have a common source?
The apostle Paul, together with his traveling companions, sets out on a journey to the ancient cities of Asia Minor and Greece. Even in the 21st century, his experiences offer valuable and instructive lessons.In an event sponsored by Harvard Book Store as part of Richard Dawkin’s tour promoting his new book The God Delusion, the Oxford professor and avowed atheist boldly bashed belief in a supernatural God as a “pernicious delusion.”
In this issue we retrace Paul and Barnabas’s travels through Cyprus and Asia Minor. What they taught Jews and gentiles along the way is the subject of considerable debate and misunderstanding.
Publisher David Hulme explores what Jesus had to say about the end of the age and when it would come.
It’s an enduring image in Western culture. A quick search of the Internet reveals the fascination the Tower of Babel has held for us for century upon century. One Web site actually has a timeline of references to Babel stretching from 5000 B.C. to A.D. 2001.
The Bible teaches that we are a soul, and that the soul is mortal. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, on the other hand, has no biblical basis.
The record of history is that, by the end of the first century, those four Gospels were established as the only inspired accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Amid the controversy, many forget that The Da Vinci Code is only a novel, albeit based on certain facts, according to its author. So just where does fact leave off and fiction begin?
The biblical book of Acts povides a fascinating history of the New Testament Church's growth and development. In this issue, we recall the early experiences of three key players.
Following Constantine’s adoption of Roman Christianity in the fourth century C.E., the idea grew that the Roman Empire was the last world monarchy before the establishment of the kingdom of God. Thus, the empire quickly became viewed as the divine tool for Christianizing the world.
How did a young Jewish slave foretell more than 2,500 years of world history?
The 10 plagues of the Exodus were God’s judgment on the Egyptian gods. This included Pharaoh himself, in that he was thought to embody all the gods and acted as their representative.
People read in the biblical account of the Exodus that God “hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” Some conclude that Pharaoh had no choice in the matter and that an unfair God mercilessly controlled him against his will.
How a God of slaves humbled one of the world's greatest civilizations.
The book of Daniel is very important to the New Testament.
The book of Daniel is often written off as nothing more than a poor historical account. Is that a valid argument?
Can we know what the Gnostics taught in the early centuries of the Common Era?
Heretics, Magus and Marcion.
The Gnostic interpretation of Scripture was designed to appeal to the Hellenistic intellectual communities such as existed in Alexandria, Egypt. They did not relate to the New Testament gospel, as it presented a Hebraic view of the world, which was in opposition to the philosophical constructs of Hellenistic culture.
While the word gnostic was used frequently by writers from the second century onward, we have to wait until the start of modern times to find the noun Gnosticism.
Of what interest is a fourth-century theologian to those of us living in the 21st? How could a person of such antiquity relate to us? The answer could be surprising.
Books discussing the relationship of Mary Magdalene to the apostles and to Jesus Christ abound. Seldom covered, however, is how the authors established that the ancient literature from which they quote actually refers to Mary Magdalene as opposed to any other Mary.
Nag Hammadi is a settlement on the River Nile, south of Luxor, Egypt. In 1945, a peasant found a large earthenware jar while digging up some rich soil with which to fertilize his fields.
Mary Magdalene has been repainted to conform to modern agendas. But is her new image a truer likeness than the old?
Augustine’s writings on the subject of original sin are often seen as a reaction to his own perceived sexual excesses as a young man. In reality, the basis of his ideas is much more profound than could have been provided by his personal conduct. The origins of his views are clearly rooted in the world of philosophy.
Faith became an enduring element of Augustine’s contribution to theology. But how does faith accord with reason?
Augustine adopted Platonic ideas to explain Christian theology. But what was at the heart of Plato’s thinking?
Part Two of Vision's look at Augustine includes several articles that explore not only the sources but also some of the major outgrowths of his philosophy.
Dualism has been a feature of many religions and philosophies.
Areemergence of ideas first expounded by Plato, Neoplatonism developed in Egypt in the third century under the influence of Plotinus.
Manichaeism was a religion that developed in the area of Babylon in the third century.
The Da Vinci Code has been an outstanding success much to the dismay of Christian churches.
There is more to the angelic realm than meets the eye.
Scientists offer rational explanations for the biblical plagues against Egypt.
Despite the end of the Cold War, the world has become a far more turbulent place.
What the world needs now is visionairies, and you could be one of them.
In the confusion about the start of the new millennium, we're forgetting about another millennium.
What are we to make of the human longing for utopia?
Millions of people the world over believe they will go to heaven or some other utopian existence when they die. But does utopia exist beyond the boundaries of the human mind?
Life in today's world is increasingly complex. A host of dilemmas, difficulties and challenges plague us individually and collectively. Yet we can enjoy a depth of tranquility that seems to elude most people.
The history behind the establishment of Easter as a principal festival within the church is an example of the inculturation of Judeo-Christian and pagan celebrations.
The “problem of evil” has frustrated philosophers for millennia. How do you reconcile the presence of evil with the existence of a loving God?
By no means is prophecy restricted to today's popular usage—that is, predicting the future.
No one wants to hear a message of doom, yet most believe that's all Bible prophecy has to offer. Have the prophets of the Bible been misjudged? Certainly their writings are among the greatest challenges faced by those seeking to understand the relevance of the Bible to our times.
With a little analysis, we can prove the Scriptures to be a trustworthy document.
Theological terms defined.
Bible History: Some have given their lives for it while others have tried to burn it to extinction. By any standard this is no ordinary book.
Like most historical accounts, the story of Jesus Christ comes down to us surrounded with legend and inaccuracy. The 20th century saw the beginning of a new wave of scholarship determined to discover His historical identity. Why is this continuing quest important, and what does the biblical record reveal?
A rare reproduction of a lost oil painting titled The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans Under the Command of Titus, A.D. 70 by David Roberts, a member of Britain's Royal Academy.
Marcion taught an irreconcilable dualism between gospel and law, between Christianity and Judaism.
During the past 2,000 years, various traditions have been layered over basic Christian truths. At the foundation of some of these teachings are bold and imposing forms of anti-Judaism. Modern scholars are reexamining the history of the early Christians and are finding that, along with Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul, the first followers were much more Judaic than was formerly thought. What does this mean for the future of Christianity?
What the Dead Sea Scrolls have revealed.
It seems that 1947 was not the first time the Dead Sea Scrolls had been disturbed since the first century.
A look at the story of these ancient writings and what we can learn from them.
It is helpful to consider some internal evidence regarding how early the canon of the New Testament began to come together.
“Where was God when the tsunami struck?” You've heard the question, but what's the answer?
Historically, the establishment of an alphabet signals a structured society that has developed complex means of communicating ideas. That’s why archaeologists have been keen to discover when alphabets were first used.
Archaeology might seem to be above the religious and political fray, but recent finds in Israel demonstrate otherwise.
Amid growing persecution, early followers of Christ fled to neighboring regions, spreading a message of hope and a way of life.
Astartling archaeological find in Israel last summer is fueling debate about the historicity of the Bible.
Several recent books address the allegation that God is dead. Can modern philosophy finally lay the God of the Bible to rest as a new millennium dawns? Or is it trying to bury the wrong god?
Competing philosophies put pressure on the early Christian church to change its doctrines and practices, with far-reaching results. One of these contenders was Gnosticism, a philosophy that has gained visibility in recent years through best selling works of both fiction and non-fiction writers.
Can the mixing of pagan philosophy with biblical teachings result in anything but a lethal potion?
The Western world's obsession with work has a long history. But on what is it founded?
Several new books are capitalizing on the release of an ancient text that purports to be Judas' side of the story in his betrayal of Jesus. What evidence is there of its authenticity?
Does humanity have the right to define or even discard moral standards according to personal preference?
The spirit that animated our earliest ancestors has continued unabated through the ages. And so, in humanity's struggle to create for itself a secure and prosperous world, it is unwittingly fulfilling an ancient prophecy.
Is Easter all it's cracked up to be?
A look back at Christianity's departure from its Hebrew roots.
With their faith on shaky ground, many nominal Christians and Jews are looking to archaeology to dig them out of their doubts.
How did the Bible come to be translated into so many vernacular tongues?
Part Two in the story of the courageous struggle to put the Bible into the hands of the English people.
Why was the translation of the Bible into English so violently opposed? First in a two-part series.
Thanks to John Paul II, the papacy is once again a force to reckon with.
Modern Western society reflects a civilization that most people consider long dead. Yet the connections are clear and unmistakable.
Where was Jesus buried and does it really matter?
The entire matrix of ancient near eastern archaeology is undergoing some exciting times and ancient writings will be at the forefront of the next wave of historical revelations in the region.
People have always wondered about life after death. What happens when we die? What the Bible has to say on the subject may be surprising.
What does God look like? Did Jesus have blond or dark hair? And why do we want to know?
Christianity has long claimed Constantine as one of its own. Yet even toward the end of his reign the emperor was open to new philosophical ideas. For Constantine, it seems it all came down to religious power brokering.
Old Testament and New Testament writers present a consistent view of God toward women, but it isn't what most people think.
What do you actually know about the Virgin Mary? Who is this iconic figure who has attained such an exalted standing in religious circles? Where did she come from, and what justifies her near-divine status?
Christian orthodoxy and heresy both have a long history. But is either right, and who decides?
In this issue we begin a new series on the 21st-century application of the gospel, this time focusing on the biblical book of Acts.