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DEAD SEA SCROLLS: THREAT TO CHRISTIANITY? Fr. William Most The first scrolls were found in 1947. Other finds followed: in 1952 Cave 3 was found, including the Copper Scroll. The most important Cave for our purposes was Cave 4, discovered in 1954. About 20% of the scrolls were soon published, but the remainder were held out for 35 years. A 6 year campaign by the Biblical Archaeology Review, led by its Editor, Hershel Shanks, finally resulted in the liberation of the balance. Some photos came to Robert Eisenman of the Dept. of Religious Studies at State University of California at...

This statement isn't new, but for years anthropologists, archaeologists and historians of art understood these artistic manifestations as purely aesthetic and decorative motives. Eduardo Palacio-Pérez, researcher at the University of Cantabria (UC), now reveals the origins of a theory that remains nowadays/lasts into our days. "This theory is does not originate with the prehistorians, in other words, those who started to develop the idea that the art of primitive peoples was linked with beliefs of a symbolic-religious nature were the anthropologists"... This idea appeared at the end of the XIX century and the beginning of the XX century. Up until...

Patients who believe in God may experience better short-term treatment outcomes for psychiatric illness, according to a new study. Individuals who described themselves as having strong faith reported having a better overall response to treatment, said David Rosmarin, a clinician and instructor in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "We found that patients who had higher levels of belief in God had better treatment outcomes — better well-being, less depression and less anxiety," Rosmarin told LiveScience.

Nana Ekua-Hammond breaks down our relationship to the religion before American slavery and White Jesus piecesThis Easter, over two billion Christians around the world will celebrate "the Resurrection of Christ," and a large percentage of them will be Black. According to a 2007 Pew Report, 78% of Blacks in America identify as Protestant while a 2011 report by Pew notes that nearly 24% of Christians live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Christianity’s explosion across Africa led many to call for the Vatican to select a successor to Pope Benedict from the Continent with Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson among the suggested shortlist. This...

s there a greater gesture of intellectual contempt than the notion that a tweet constitutes an adequate intervention in a serious discussion? But when Thomas Nagel’s formidable book Mind and Cosmos recently appeared, in which he has the impudence to suggest that “the materialist neo-Darwinian conception of nature is almost certainly false,” and to offer thoughtful reasons to believe that the non-material dimensions of life—consciousness, reason, moral value, subjective experience—cannot be reduced to, or explained as having evolved tidily from, its material dimensions, Steven Pinker took to Twitter and haughtily ruled that it was “the shoddy reasoning of a once-great...

In the March 25 issue of The Weekly Standard, the lead article entitled "The Heretic" deals with philosopher Thomas Nagel, who has abandoned his long-held perspective on philosophy and religion. This has caused consternation and alarm among contemporary philosophy professors, the great majority of whom are strongly committed to an atheistic world-view. A recurring assertion by members of that profession is that they are being very scientific, because science disproves religion. The question arises, "Where did the idea come from that science disproves religion?" It didn't come from within science; rather, it's the province of non-scientists making statements about science....

Frank Newport, author of the recently published book, “God is Alive and Well,” made a timely appearance this past week at a forum hosted by Concordia University in Southern California. It followed the much-hyped release of a new survey by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and Duke University that stated, “Americans and religion increasingly parting ways.” Deliberately misinterpreting data culled from the General Social Survey, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, the researchers claimed that the percentage of Americans “preferring no religion” had risen to 20 percent in 2012, down 12 percentage points from 1990. “We...

Religious affiliation in the United States is at its lowest point since it began to be tracked in the 1930s, according to analysis of newly released survey data by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and Duke University. Last year, one in five Americans claimed they had no religious preference, more than double the number reported in 1990. Fewer Americans affiliated with an organized religion, survey shows UC Berkeley sociologists Mike Hout and Claude Fischer , along with Mark Chaves of Duke University, analyzed data on religious attitudes as part of the General Social Survey, a highly cited biannual...

(Vatican Radio) During the course of the briefing for journalists on Saturday in the Press Office of the Holy See, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, outlined a timetable for the ceremonies and proceedings on the first days of the upcoming Conclave. The times given below are tentative and approximate. Tuesday, March 12th, 2013 (all times Rome local: GMT + 1) 15:45 – Transfer from Domus Sanctae Marthae to Pauline Chapel16:30 – Procession from Pauline Chapel to Sistine Chapel16:45 – Oath administered and Extra omnes! Proclaimed Followed by meditation by Card. Prosper Grech, OPEventual 1st vote 19:15 – Vespers19:30 – Cardinals return...

So we finally have a starting time. Given the choice among Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week, the assembled cardinals chose to be moderate and pick the date in the middle. I am not boasting when I say that I anticipated this middle-of-the-road move – which my press colleagues here in Rome discounted. It was simply a logical extrapolation: There seems to be an air of caution and moderation in all the events to date. So in many ways, this latest result is the least surprise. There’s still a lot of time between now (Friday evening, as I write)...

From New York’s blogging cardinal archbishop, Timothy Dolan: Every day we each begin with the most effective prayer of all, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In our sessions we pray from the Divine Office, begin each meeting with the ancient prayer to the third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, the Veni Sancte Spiritus, and we break at lunch with the beautiful words of the Angelus. Wednesday, we cardinals made a Holy Hour of adoration before Jesus, really and truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, at the Altar of the Chair in Saint Peter’s Basilica.We’re praying a lot; and,...

With the shorthand "OMG" (oh, my God) becoming a huge cliche, it might be worth taking a look at how Americans are seeing the Almighty these days -- that is if they are looking at all. A recent Gallup poll indicates that just 31 percent of Americans worship publicly on a weekly basis, while 43 percent rarely go to a church, synagogue or mosque. Growing up under the heavy hand of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, it was drummed into me that attending weekly Mass was not an option. It was a must to avoid eternal damnation, which...

We have noticed many conservative Christians these days claiming to hold to a libertarian political philosophy. Libertarianism is the idea that government should allow complete freedom, except in the case when one person directly harms another. While this often sounds appealing to Christians, we see see a dangerous clash of worldviews in trying to mix Christianity with libertarianism. We think that “Christian libertarians” have been unwittingly duped into adopting a philosophy that has much in common with liberal secularists--and is contrary to the Bible at key points. Libertarianism and Christianity really do not mix like some think. Among the problems...

Where is love and peace in Islam? Does the muslim woman who is flogged for being ‘the victim’ of a rape find the love in Islam? Does the muslim woman who is buried up to her chest and stoned to death find peace in Islam? Does the muslim woman who is acid burned find the love and peace in Islam? Does the muslim woman who is honor killed find the love and peace she seeks? I think not.

I'd like to share this for those that are interested in seeking truth. The issues run far and wide, however there seems a core to understanding that needs to be examined.

video 8:11

Today is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and I happened to get a synopsis of a sermon that was delivered by a Rabbi at a Reform synagogue in Seattle. The Rabbi presented what I would describe as a false conflict, a dialectical analysis, and that is the alleged conflicting views of faith and science. Operating on the premise that this conflict exists, the Rabbi suggested, as a solution, that his congregants re-introduce faith into their lives. There is, or course, no contradiction between faith and science as this is one of the great myths that has been promoted by...

Dr Eben Alexander, a Harvard-educated neurosurgeon, fell into a coma for seven days in 2008 after contracting meningitis. During his illness Dr Alexander says that the part of his brain which controls human thought and emotion "shut down" and that he then experienced "something so profound that it gave me a scientific reason to believe in consciousness after death." In an essay for American magazine Newsweek, which he wrote to promote his book Proof of Heaven, Dr Alexander says he was met by a beautiful blue-eyed woman in a "place of clouds, big fluffy pink-white ones" and "shimmering beings".

The Volatile Notion of a Married Jesus By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN Published: November 3, 2003 Half a dozen religious leaders joined David Westin, the president of ABC News, and others from the network and the press for lunch on the 22nd floor of ABC building on 66th Street in Manhattan late last week. Mr. Westin wore a sharp suit, as did some members of the clergy; others had dressed casually. Many were diffident. Some were quietly furious. Part symposium and part focus group, the meeting had been convened to discuss "Jesus, Mary and da Vinci," tonight's ABC News special; the show...

(Associated Posers) - CAIRO, Egypt - Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, revealed this morning an ancient shred of papyrus. He announced that for the past 6 months this scrap of papyrus has been studied by some of the leading archaeologists. "Due to the controversial nature of the contents, we have been extremely meticulous and we have documented everything" Zahi Hawass said at the press conference held near his office "The paper, the ink and even the writing all point to the same result" Less than a week after another scrap of ancient text was falsely said to have...