Here‘s my appearance on CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin discussing the significance of the destruction of Jonah’s tomb
CNN: Destruction of Jonah’s Tomb (VIDEO)
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WSJ: Jihadists in Iraq Erase Cultural Heritage
BAGHDAD—A campaign by Sunni insurgents to establish an Islamic caliphate across Iraq and Syria and expel other Muslim sects and religions is taking a sharp toll on the countries’ cultural heritage.
Read the full story in which I am quoted here
CNN: Will Christianity Ever Rise Again in Iraq?
The destructive force of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the militant Sunni movement, is epitomized in a video released Thursday of ISIS members smashing a tomb in Mosul, Iraq.
The tomb is traditionally thought to be the burial place of the prophet Jonah, a holy site for Christians and many Muslims.
Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, is built on and adjacent to the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh, the setting for the biblical book of Jonah and once the most powerful capital of the ancient world.
Co-authored with Joel Baden of Yale Divinity School. Read the full story here
Daily Beast: ‘Persecuted’ is The Christian Right’s Paranoid Wet Dream
‘Liberal elites’ may be more contemptuous of the fervently religious these days, but it’s the hysterical rants of bad movies like ‘Persecuted’ that fuel this disdain.
Read the whole review here
Politico Magaze: Francis v. Benedict, the Soccer Match
It almost seems a divine referendum on the two living popes: the FIFA World Cup final comes down to a battle of skill between Argentina, home of Pope Francis, and Germany, birthplace of Pope Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.
The world’s press was quick to pick up on the unusual confluence of two living popes—itself a rarity—represented by their national football teams. Memes, cartoons and jokes followed. (My favorite: photo-shopped images of Benedict and Francis in national-team colored skullcaps.) Even though the bookish Benedict has demonstrated no interest in soccer and the Vatican has declared that the match falls after Pope Francis’s bedtime, Argentine fans are adding Pope Francis to their roster.
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CNN: How an apocalyptic plague helped spread Christianity
Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed relics from an apocalyptic plague that some Christians believed heralded the end of the world – an idea that likely helped spread the faith centuries ago.
Read full story here
Daily Beast: Deconstructing David Brat’s Scholarship
The Tea Party economics professor who shocked Eric Cantor has an astonishing body of academic work—and that’s not a compliment.
Perhaps even more shocking than David Brat’s victory over House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Tuesday was the news that he’s a professor—hardly a profession common to university-hating Tea Party candidates. Brat’s victory is an impressive feat considering that to most of the people who voted for him, “professorial” is a deadly insult.
Read more here
Daily Beast: This Could Be Pope Francis’s Masterstroke
Meeting the head of the Eastern Orthodox church, the pope set a date for a third historic meeting of Christian factions—a savvy move to control how his successors lead.
After all the speculation surrounding Pope Francis’s ability to engineer peace on his big Middle East trip, the biggest news from the visit came from his visit with Patriarch Bartholomew I, the primary leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Not to gloat, but we totally called it.
Read full story here
Daily Beast: Pope’s Middle East Game of Shrines
Pope Francis hoped he might help bring peace to the Middle East, but set off a firestorm over a contested holy site. Maybe he should try healing the rift with the Orthodox church instead.
Pope Francis is off on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land this week in search of reconciliation and peace. His tour of the Middle East includes meetings with King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan, a visit to Bethlehem, trips to the Wailing Wall and the Holocaust museum, and meetings with both President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Read more here
Stavanger International Conference on Disability, Illness and Religion
I will be giving a keynote address at the Stavanger International Conference on Disability, Illness and Religion in Stavanger, Norway. The conference is hosted by the school of Mission and Theology and the Stavanger University Hospital. Other keynote speeches will be delivered by Professor John Swinton of Aberdeen, Dr. Micheline Kamba (Protestant University of the Congo), and organizers Dr. Anna Rebecca Solevåg and Dr. Marta Høyland Lavik.
The title of the Paper is “”Blessed are the Barren: Infertility in the New Testament and Early Church.”