This is just in from the Washington Post, and it’s devastating to the credibility of those hawking the so-called “Jesus Tomb.”
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Alvin Plantinga Zings Richard Dawkins
Many people regard Alvin Plantinga to be one of the greatest (if not the greatest) living philosophers of our time. He represents the best of what it means to be a Christian and a scholar. So don’t miss his critical review of the atheist Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion. This is the money line, and it’s a zinger:
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Scholars Speak against Farcical “Jesus Tombâ€
Below are items that might be helpful as you evaluate the titanically tendentious claims of “The Jesus Tomb.” The list is divided between Biblical scholars who have weighed in and popular commentaries available in various media outlets. This latest update includes two MP3’s: (1) interviews with Ben Witherington and Darrell Bock, and (2) Al Mohler’s most recent radio broadcast on the subject. [I’ve moved the update list to this location.]
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Al Mohler’s Appearance on “Larry King Liveâ€
Last night, Dr. R. Albert Mohler appeared on “Larry King Live” to discuss the so-called “Jesus Tomb.” You can read the transcript of the program here. James Cameron’s response to one of Mohler’s remarks was completely inane. Mohler had observed how unlikely it would be that a peasant family of Nazareth would end up in a middle-class family tomb near Jerusalem. Such things just did not happen.
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The Tomb Is Not Empty after All?
James Cameron, the director of the 1997 best-picture Titanic, has produced a documentary claiming to have unearthed Jesus’ tomb and bodily remains. In a new documentary, Producer Cameron and his director, Simcha Jacobovici, make the starting claim that Jesus wasn’t resurrected –the cornerstone of Christian faith– and that his burial cave was discovered near Jerusalem. And, get this, Jesus sired a son with Mary Magdelene. . . Film-makers Cameron and Jacobovici claim to have amassed evidence through DNA tests, archeological evidence and Biblical studies, that the 10 coffins belong to Jesus and his family (source).
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The “Goracle†Wins
HT to the San Francisco Chronicle for the “Goracle” moniker. Â Â Â ____
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“Amazing Grace†Suppresses Wilberforce’s Christianity?
At OpinionJournal.com, Charlotte Allen suggests that the new movie about William Wilberforce suppresses his Christianity: Alas, a lot of people watching “Amazing Grace,” Michael Apted’s just-released film, may get the impression–perhaps deliberately fostered by Mr. Apted–that Wilberforce was a mostly secular humanitarian whose main passion was not Christian faith but politics and social justice. Along the way, they may also get the impression that the hymn “Amazing Grace” is no more than an uplifting piece of music that sounds especially rousing on the bagpipes. I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I certainly can’t have an opinion on this question. But I sure hope that Allen is wrong.
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Graeme Goldsworthy’s According to Plan
In any given year, I teach about five sections of hermeneutics at the College where I am a professor. Beginning this semester, I modified my hermeneutics course so as to include a module on biblical theology. At the suggestion of my good friend Brian Vickers, I am requiring my students to read Graeme Goldsworthy’s introduction to biblical theology, According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible. I have been a student of biblical theology for many years now, but I had never read Goldsworthy’s primer on the topic until just this semester as I was preparing lectures. Having read the book, I can now say that I…
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Baptists Asked to Crack Down on Abusers
Here’s the lead in an Associated Press report dated yesterday, February 21: The victims’ advocates who dogged the Roman Catholic Church over sex abuse by its clergy have now turned their attention to the Southern Baptists, accusing America’s largest Protestant denomination of also failing to root out molesters. I offer two brief responses to this report.
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Review of BibleWorks7
BibleWorks 7: Software for Biblical Exegesis and Research. Norfolk, VA: BibleWorks, LLC. $349.00. For many years, the Accordance software was the gold standard for scholars and pastors working with the primary texts of biblical studies. Its main drawback was that it only worked on Macs, thus relegating the myriads of PC users to one or more of the inferior programs that were available for the Windows operating system. The release of BibleWorks 5 and 6 began to close the gap between Mac users and PC users. With the release of BibleWorks 7, however, the gap is gone, and a new standard has been set for serious students of the scripture…