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Jesus received a rich Jew's burial, thanks to Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea: "Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen." John 19:39-40 Seventy-five pounds, the Bible's "talent," of spices embedded in those linen strips would have created the first century equivalent of about 3" of fiberglass, with three days to harden and cure. It became a rock-hard cocoon or shell for Jesus' body, with a hole just large enough for his neck: Jewish custom was to cover the head with...

Hello everyone! I'm a few days late posting this due to technical difficulties. But the good news is I got it resolved. This week's episode of "Why the New Testament Was Written" focuses on Peter's second epistle. It also takes a further look at how the Nero persecutions ended and the long-term ramifications they had on early Christianity.Video: Why II Peter Was WrittenVideo clocks in at 10:17. Two more to go!

Bones attributed to St. Peter have been found by chance in a church in Rome during routine restoration work, 2,000 years after the apostle’s death. The relics of the saint, who is regarded as the first Pope, were found in clay pots in the 1,000-year-old Church of Santa Maria in Cappella in the district of Trastevere, a medieval warren of cobbled lanes on the banks of the Tiber River. The bones were discovered when a worker lifted up a large marble slab near the medieval altar of the church, which has been closed to the public for 35 years because...