'Church of the Ark' found on West Bank

Here is an interesting article about a very early church that has been discovered. I think the mosaic is beautiful.

CLICK HERE to see the Mosaic

National Association of Evangelicals Leader Ted Haggard

LeadershipJournal.net - Leader's Insight: When Leaders Implode

So many people have mentioned to me that I haven't updated my blog in a while that I decided I'll get at it again. Here is a good article on Ted Haggard and the his recent scandal.

James Ossuary Update

"The ossuary inscribed "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" has recently been studied by Professor Wolfgang E. Krumbein, a world-renowned authority. He has reached startling conclusions that will change the debate over this highly controversial artifact."

Biblical Archaeology Review

The Da Vinci Code Fizzle

Click here for a list of Da Vinci Code reviews

Click here to read Dr. Paul L. Maier's article "The Da Vinci Code Distortion" from the April 2006 Lutheran Witness.
(This is a pdf file.)

Here's a sample: "...readers who are used to factual backgrounds will assume the same for The Da Vinci Code and will be deceived."

More on the Gospel of Judas

Concordia Seminary held a convocation on April 10 titled
Gospel of Judas: Professors Respond

Click here to download an mp3 of the convocation

Here are a couple of quotes from the web post, click here to read the entire post:

Concordia Seminary professors James Voelz and Jeffrey Kloha provided a response to the gospel of Judas for members of the Seminary community in a convocation on Monday, April 10. Voelz and Kloha serve in the Seminary’s department of exegetical theology and specialize in New Testament studies.


“There is nothing of the historical Jesus, the Jesus that walked the earth, in this document,” commented Kloha. “It is important that we know about this document since people are watching and reading media reports about it and being influenced by them.”

The gospel of Judas was featured in a National Geographic Society television documentary the previous evening and is receiving a great deal of media attention. It is dramatically different from the four gospels that are contained within the New Testament and purports to provide a secret account of a revelation that Jesus spoke with the disciple Judas Iscariot.

“Jesus is never described as ‘the Christ’ in this manuscript,” commented Kloha. “Instead, an individual named Seth is referenced as the Christ.”

In describing the media’s portrayal of the document, Voelz stated, “They are conveniently omitting a lot of information that would put the manuscript in a bad light. It is important for people to know how odd this document is.”

The Gospel of Judas

There has been lot's of smoke regarding the Gospel of Judas but not much light or heat. Here is an excellent article on the topic. The Gospel of Judas Here is an excerpt:

The existence of the Gospel of Judas has been known for centuries, and thus is no “new” discovery (only the discovery of the Coptic manuscript is “new”). In writing against ancient heresies, the church father Irenaeus (130-200 A. D.) said that the Gospel of Judas originated in a Gnostic sect called the Cainites. He wrote: “They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they label the Gospel of Judas.” Ancient gnostics, whose teachings were rejected by early Christians as heretical, generally taught that material creation is evil, entrapping what belongs to the divine or spiritual realm. Souls (spirit) are imprisoned in human bodies and are released (thus “saved”) and ascend to the spiritual realm through knowledge (gnosis)

The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod - NBC cancels 'Book of Daniel'; Commentary from Veith

The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod - NBC cancels 'Book of Daniel'; Commentary from Veith