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)
Reply
Category Archives: CNN
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
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
CNN: New Evidence Casts Doubt on ‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife
It seemed real; it seemed fake; it seemed real again; now we’re back to fake.
“It” is the controversial little scrap of papyrus, written in Coptic, that seems to have Jesus referring to “my wife,” in contrast to the traditional stance that affirms Jesus’ perpetual bachelorhood.
The quick backstory: In 2012, a Harvard professor, Karen King, brought this papyrus to the attention of scholars and the public.
Both the material and the script looked authentically ancient at first glance, and though the notion of Jesus having a wife was remarkable, these “lost” Christian writings, such as the Gnostic Gospels, are full of unorthodoxies.
Read the full story here.
(This article was co-authored with Joel Baden of Yale Divinity School. It summarizes the work of many distinguished scholars including Mark Goodacre from whom we received permission to use the image in the piece)
CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports: Popes and Presidents
CNN will present Wolf Blitzer Reports: Popes and Presidents on Easter Sunday, April 20 at 2 p.m. ET. The 30-minute special will explore the history of the long and sometimes troubled relationship between the White House and the Vatican. Watch the promo video with part of my appearance here.
CNN Belief Blog: Did Christians really steal Easter?
It’s that time of year again: the time when chocolate comes in pastels, cherry blossoms start to bloom and well-marketed religion exposés are released to the world.
In other words, it’s Easter. Among the rash of sensationalist stories we can expect through the season, the annual “Easter was stolen from the pagans” refrain has sprouted again just in time for Holy Week. Don’t believe the hype.
Read more here. For an excellent discussion of Ishtar see Tom Verenna’s blog here. For more on Easter-time misinformation see James McGrath’s piece here.
5 Things You Didn’t Know About Popes and Presidents
Wolf Blitzer and Sean Kennedy have an article about the history of Papal and Presidential relations in which I am cited. It’s a forerunner to a documentary I participated in that should air around Easter.
Read article here
CNN Belief Blog: Five Things Bill O’Reilly Flubs in Killing Jesus
Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing Jesus: A History” is the best-selling book in the world right now. But it’s far from flawless. The Holy Spirit may have inspired “Killing Jesus,” but he didn’t fact-check it. Here are Five Ways it Shows.
Read more here
CNN: Christ Was Persecuted, But What About Christians?
CNN examination of my argument about the persecution of early Christians in The Myth of Persecution by John Blake. Read here.