Just a few weeks after Time magazine writes about Exposing the “Jesus’ Brother” Hoax we get treated to this: the trial judge in the alleged forgery case recommended the prosecution, um, “reassess its position.”
(Jerusalem Post / San Francisco Chronicle)
What both of these stories omit is that one of the “experts” who claimed “the inscription on the ossuary cut through the ancient limestone box’s patina, a thin coating acquired with age, proving the writing was not ancient.” (quote from JP story) had to admit under oath that indeed there was original patina in the inscription after all. (Hat Tip: Ben Witherington)
(Full Release from Biblical Archeology Society)
Joel Johnson writes a familiar but sad story. Malfeasance from a pastor drove him out of Christianity. He’s not alone; writer Sue Monk Kidd tells a tragically similar story. I’m absolutely certain the two are not alone in their experience. And they pose a conundrum, to believers and to those who have left because of this sort of thing.
As believers these sort of stories should serve to remind us of the burden we bear. We know we’re far from perfect. We know we’ll do things that offend others, sometimes egregiously, and even sometimes intentionally. There’s always that possibility; it comes from being human. And the burden is that when we do so, the world around us will blame our church, our faith, our Lord, rather than put the blame where it belongs — on us.
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When I saw this, I just couldn’t help myself. Lift and enjoy, Dr Witherington!
I don’t like books “exposing” flaws in The DaVinci Code, if for no other reason than they display a lack of sportsmanship. Finding errors in that book is like fishing at a trout farm; the only real question is how many minutes will it take to catch one. That having been said, I’d like to offer a solid recommendation for Ben Witherington’s The Gospel Code.
The major difference between Witherington’s work and the rest is that he limits himself to pointing out just seven major errors, occupying less than the first third of his book. The rest of his book is spent in analysing the deeper errors, made by some more renowned scholars, which tend to feed into books like The DVC.
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…, a book by Robert J Sawyer, was the latest to leave its imprint on the wall.
You know how it is, the story is going along nicely, you’re getting in to the characters when suddently the author slips, and destroys the illusion that he’s been building up and that you’ve been enjoying. You want to scream, but settle instead for throwing the book across the room. (more…)
