The Cyrus Cylinder is a declaration written in Akkadian cuneiform script on a clay cylinder which is now housed in the British Museum in London. It records the words of King Cyrus, a Persian ruler who reigned during the 6th century BC. Cyrus the Great (as he is known to history) founded the Achaemenid empire …
What is the Cyrus Cylinder and why does it matter? Read More »
Ancient Near Eastern sources can give valuable insights into the world the Old Testament was written in The biblical book of 2 Kings gives a theological explanation for the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC and the subsequent exile of its people. It is a rich account of sage prophets, ruthless kings, intriguing miracles …
Famine and war had recently afflicted Caesarea, so when the plague hit in the early fourth century, the populace was already weakened and unable to withstand this additional blow. The populace began fleeing the city, one of the larger ones of the Roman Empire, for safety in the countryside.[i] However, in the midst of the …
From a Birmingham jail in 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. penned his now famous response to the liberal clergymen who opposed his methods for fighting racial discrimination.1 Among his many disappointments, one stood out above all others. In the face of manifest ungodliness, the Church had been silent. King was painfully aware that when the …
The Security of Stained Glass—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) Read More »
The name, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), has become a byword for conviction and courage. In 1935, ten years before the Nazis hanged him in Flossenburg, Bonhoeffer presided over a seminary consisting of twenty-five young pastors. They were all part of the Confessing Church, believers who refused to drape Hitler’s policies with the Christian flag. Therefore, the …
Confessing Courage – Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) Read More »
Late one evening, a woman knocked at Father Damien de Veuster’s door. Nervously, she whispered a warning into his ear then fled into the darkness. What she told him was sobering: that night, pagan incantation rites against his life were being conducted in a burial cave. Yet undaunted by the threat, he walked for an …
Minister to Lepers: Father Damien de Veuster (1840 – 1889) Read More »