Biblical Heritage Center Blog

I just finished reading two very informative and important books -- Perpetrators Victims Bystanders: The Jewish Catastrophe 1933-1945 by Raul Hilberg and The Holocaust, The Church, and the Law of Unintended Consequences by Anthony J. Sciolino. Thought I would share a few quotes with you. “Religious affiliation in Nazi Germany 40 percent Roman Catholic and 54 percent Protestant – a nation that was 94 percent Christian . Nazi Germany was more Christian than the United States of America. How could one of the worst catastrophes in human history have started in one of the most Christian countries of Christian Europe, birthplace of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation? Father Michael McGarry, a Paulist priest and rector of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem articulates this most disconcerting reality: `We Christians need to remember that studying the Shoah (Holocaust) is not simply reading about what happened to the Jews, but what some Christians – some s...

Let’s begin by making sure we understand what Jesus’ Bible was. When most people read the word “Scriptures” in their Bible, many picture “their Bible.” “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,   and how from infancy   you have known the Holy Scriptures ,   which are able to make you wise   for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.   All Scripture is given by inspiration of God   and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,   so that the servant of God   may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17) Is your Bible what you pictured when you read the above verses? Is your Bible what the author of those words had in his mind too? If we believe that the verses above mean our Bible, then we assume that the author’s Scriptures meant our Bible. But what if he had something else in mind – then wha...

Ahmadinejad promised it. Now British textbooks are doing it. Israel has been wiped off the map by Garnet Education, an English-language teaching company in Britain, whose educational textbook 'Skills in English Writing Level 1', aimed at foreign students and immigrants to the UK, contains a map with "Occupied Palestine" in place of the Jewish State. Garnet Education is controlled by a Lebanese media empire owned by pro-Syrian Arab nationalist. In posts on their websites, both Garnet and Ithaca glorify the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. Read complete article at -- http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3525/uk-textbook-israel-map

This is the last day to make a donation for 2012. If you have not made a donation yet or would like to add to your other tax-deductible donations of 2012 – make an online donation today before midnight. Our work is completely funded by individuals who understand the importance of our work. We sincerely appreciate your support. Thanks to everyone that has helped make the work of the Biblical Heritage Center possible. To donate, click on – http://www.biblicalheritage.org/BHC/donate.htm

There's an atheist chaplain at Stanford. This is good news. John Figdor has a degree from Harvard Divinity School and he does what chaplains do. He counsels those in need and visits the sick. And what's more, he's welcomed as part of the Office of Religious Life. His appointment not only broadens the conversation about "belief" and "unbelief" but also exposes the confusion at the heart of that conversation. We are often talking at cross-purposes. As Figdor points out, "Atheist, agnostic and humanist students suffer the same problems as religious students - deaths or illnesses in the family, questions about the meaning of life, etc. - and would like a sympathetic nontheist to talk to." Evidently he's part of a growing number of "faith-free" chaplains at universities. All the benefits of religion without the god bit. And here's where the conversation, with all its risk of confusion, gets interesting. For me, faith is all a...

There are only a few days left for you to make a tax-deductible donation for 2012. With all of the uncertainty concerning what happens in Congress in the next few days, your decision to donate in 2012 could be important. The Biblical Heritage Center is funded by donations made by individuals. We are not associated with or receive funding from any religious institution or other organizations. This allows us the independence needed to follow factual evidence instead of defending any creed or doctrine. BHC relies on individuals who value factual information regarding their biblical heritage -- the Bible, beliefs, religious institutions, etc. If you understand and believe this is important -- please contribute and help us do our work. In order to make an online donation before the end of 2012 click on –  http://www.biblicalheritage.org/BHC/donate.htm

The finds, dated to the early monarchic period and including pottery figurines of men and horses, provide rare testimony of a ritual cult in the Jerusalem region at the beginning of the period of the monarchy. The temple remains were discovered at the Tel Motza site, located to the west of Jerusalem. The walls of the structure are massive, and it includes a wide, east-facing entrance, conforming to the tradition of temple construction in the ancient Near East: The rays of the sun rising in the east would have illuminated the object placed inside the temple first, symbolizing the divine presence within. A square structure which was probably an altar was exposed in the temple courtyard, and the cache of sacred vessels was found near the structure. For more information and pictures see the two articles below: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/2-750-old-temple-discovered-israel-192009936.html http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Early+History+-+Archaeology/Temple_vessels_Bibli...