Ben Witherington: June 2009 Archives
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Add to StumbleUponFriday June 26, 2009
The Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia--- or Not
Not for the first time and undoubtedly not for the last, the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia is claiming it has the original Ark of the Covenant spoken of in the Bible, and made famous all over again by Indiana Jones. What is new about all this is that the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church says he will be unveiling it for all the world to see soon and very soon. Here is a link to the story
http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/9322/ark-of-the-covenant-revealed/
I must confess that I am more than just a tad skeptical that this ark has anything to do with the original ark of the covenant. Why not? Well, lets start with the fact that according to Orthodox tradition the ark was brought to Ethiopia by Menilik I who was supposedly Solomon's son which he had with the Queen of Sheba (who knew?). This claim is not based in any ancient sources known to date prior to the time of Jesus. What the Bible says is that Solomon's son was Rehoboam, and no sexual dalliance, never mind marriage to the Queen of Sheba is mentioned in the Bible. 1 Kngs 10.13 refers to Solomon giving the Queen various goods, in a reciprocity exchange meant to cement a positive relationship between the two peoples. When Solomon is said to have had sexual relationships with foreign women, the text is quite explicit and names the countries from which they came ( 1 Kngs. 11.1ff.) Neither the Queen of Sheba, nor anyone else from Sheba is mentioned.
But besides this fact, there is no good reason whatsoever why any son of Solomon would cart the ark off to Ethiopia. Judea was not under attack by any of the neighboring super powers such as Egypt during the reign of the son of Solomon and the Temple had of course been built in Jerusalem in part to house the ark of the covenant in the first place. Furthermore, the evidence as far as it goes suggests that Sheba (or Saba) was the country known as Yemen on the east side of the Red Sea, not Ethiopia which is on the west side of that sea, though this matter is debated, and some think Saba included territory on both sides of the sea.
Here below you will find a picture of the little shrine in Ethiopia where the ark is now housed.
Stay tuned for more 'revelations', but as my granny once said--- "Don't be so open minded that your brains fall out".
http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/9322/ark-of-the-covenant-revealed/
I must confess that I am more than just a tad skeptical that this ark has anything to do with the original ark of the covenant. Why not? Well, lets start with the fact that according to Orthodox tradition the ark was brought to Ethiopia by Menilik I who was supposedly Solomon's son which he had with the Queen of Sheba (who knew?). This claim is not based in any ancient sources known to date prior to the time of Jesus. What the Bible says is that Solomon's son was Rehoboam, and no sexual dalliance, never mind marriage to the Queen of Sheba is mentioned in the Bible. 1 Kngs 10.13 refers to Solomon giving the Queen various goods, in a reciprocity exchange meant to cement a positive relationship between the two peoples. When Solomon is said to have had sexual relationships with foreign women, the text is quite explicit and names the countries from which they came ( 1 Kngs. 11.1ff.) Neither the Queen of Sheba, nor anyone else from Sheba is mentioned.
But besides this fact, there is no good reason whatsoever why any son of Solomon would cart the ark off to Ethiopia. Judea was not under attack by any of the neighboring super powers such as Egypt during the reign of the son of Solomon and the Temple had of course been built in Jerusalem in part to house the ark of the covenant in the first place. Furthermore, the evidence as far as it goes suggests that Sheba (or Saba) was the country known as Yemen on the east side of the Red Sea, not Ethiopia which is on the west side of that sea, though this matter is debated, and some think Saba included territory on both sides of the sea.
Here below you will find a picture of the little shrine in Ethiopia where the ark is now housed.
Stay tuned for more 'revelations', but as my granny once said--- "Don't be so open minded that your brains fall out".
Wednesday June 24, 2009
Mystery Highway-- a Gem from Phil and Randy
Last week was all music, all the time. First I went to the 40th anniversary Ichthus festival and had a blast watching the Ascension Band (full of former members of Earth Wind and Fire and from Prince's band, now getting their funk together for the Lord) with Phil Keaggy, and then I went to the Clapton and Winwood extravaganza in Columbus with my good buddy Jeff James. I have to say, I liked both concerts equally well, except the Ascension Band was not allowed to play long enough. Just when they were really getting down on Bob Marley's Exodus and my daughter Christy and I were getting into the vibe, they had to draw to a close.
So I compensated by getting the new Phil Keaggy and Randy Stonehill CD which is FAR OUT MAN!!! Back in 1976 my wife and I were counselors at Jesus 76 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Phil played there with Randy. I have loved these guys forever and now they have done their ultimate tribute album to those who have most influenced them--- the Beatles and Elvis.
Mystery Highway has a little of everything--- 50s rockabilly in Elvis, Beatles ballads with great harmony, and even a rap tune called Rockman, all recorded in Phil's home studio in Nashville. If you are in the car and need to get somewhere fast, put on Rockin' in a Hard Place, and presto--- you will be there! These two Christian musicians have been friends for a very long time, and the good news is, that like Clapton and Winwood, not only have they not lost their chops, they have simply gotten better in various ways.
I remember buying the early Phil Keaggy solo lps and thinking--- this is nice, but pales in comparison to my favorite secular artists. Well, no more. If you like 'new' classic rock, this lp is the ticket for you. Phil Keaggy has of course been universally acclaimed as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Even Slowhand says so. What Randy Stonehill especially adds to the mix, besides an Elvis sensibility, is his wonderful lyrics..... for example,
"Your only a breath from heaven or hell,
So when life comes at you like a ragin' bull
You've gotta do better than say 'Ole' or 'oh well.'
My personal favorites on this new CD are Rockin in a Hard Place, Sunday's Child, Rockman, Irresistible Future and Dreamspeak (think Cream and Clapton!) I commend this to you whole heartedly.
And as for Eric and Steve, well they were fine, serving up a basically blues concert, even including Georgia on Hammond B3! It was a treat. It is nice to have Clapton and his family living nearby in the Columbus vicinity. I suspect we will hear from all four of these fellows forever--- including in the heavenly band.
Sunday June 21, 2009
The Papias Stele
Sometimes you are just wandering around in a graveyard and you find something remarkable. In this case I was actually looking for something Mark Fairchild, my fellow explorer of Turkey told me about--- a grave stele for someone named Papias, lodged in the courtyard of the Hierapolis museum. After scouring the landscape, I finally came across what you see below.
Sure enough we have here a grave stele for a man named Papias Klesos as the first line of the inscription informs us. This stele was said to be found in Laodicea, which raises an immediate question if we are going to try and connect it with Bishop Papias since he lived across the valley in Hierapolis, but then his episcopal region would surely have included the other two cities in the Lycus valley--- Colossae and Laodicea in addition to Hierapolis which seems to have been the center of things Christian in the valley in the early second century. So lets look a little closer at the inscription and see what else it says.
The second line indicates that the Papias in question was a shepherd of some sort. Now this immediately raises questions, because shepherds were blue collar workers, not likely to be able to afford a nice grave stele like this one, nor is it likely their family could. Someone erected this stele in Papias' honor, and his honor claim involves being a shepherd, which frankly was a dirty profession, and not highly regarded by various high status Greco-Roman persons. Our modern bucolic notions about shepherding should not be read back into the world of early Christianity.
Now the third line in the inscription has the word CHRESTOS which was sometimes mistaken for CHRISTOS, but it appears often enough in ancient inscriptions and has a meaning range from upright to worthy to anointed. It is an honorific adjective in any case. Let's suppose for a moment it means any one of these three possibilities. Its not the sort of honorific inscription one might expect for a literal shepherd. But let us suppose it is a character description for a Christian leader who is a morally upright shepherdof his people and is being honored for his leadership. The last line of the inscription is more mundane--- 'to those passing by, Greetings!' As you know however, the word 'grace' is in fact a modified form of the word greetings, and when one couples this with the double entendre CHRESTOS it is more than possible that this is a Christian inscription made generic enough that the casual observer would see this as a normal grave inscription, but the Christian might well make more of it. It is of course odd to us that a deceased person would be portrayed as greeting the passerby, but a Christian might well think of a grace wish to passersby.
If we take all of this together it is indeed possible that this is the grave stele of Bishop Papias though we certainly can't be sure by any means. It certainly is the grave stele of an honorable and probably relatively high status Christian. What we know about Papias is that he seems to have died a martyr in Smyrna (Izmir). But perhaps his flock chose to honor him in this generic way thereafter. The early second century was a dicey time for Christians in western Turkey as is evident from reading Pliny's letter to Trajan asking what to do with Christians handed over for practicing a 'superstition'. See what you think and weigh in.
Friday June 19, 2009
Rednecking
My fellow United Methodist, Jeff Foxworthy has made a living off of redneck jokes. I once shared a stage with him at the North Georgia Conference. Though I am a southern boy, I couldn't hold a candle to him. He's got a corner on the redneck market. But there are plenty of rednecks in N.C. as well. In fact we used to have a disk jockey in Raleigh whose call name was Red Neckerson. Then too there was a rumor that N.C. state troops stopped anyone at the state line comin' north from S.C. and checked their necks to make sure they were from S.C. It was an instant I.D. This nice little collection of odds and sods comes my way courtesy of my friend Jim Horn, not known to be a redneck, but rather a proper Kentucky Gentleman. Enjoy. BW3Redneck Yard Swing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Redneck passed away and left his entire estate to his beloved widow.
But she can't touch it 'til she's 14.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Redneck Cooler
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How do you know when you're
staying in a redneck motel?
When you call the front desk
and say, I gotta leak in my sink,
and the clerk replies, 'Go ahead'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Redneck Cellar
~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you hear that they have
raised the minimum drinking
age for rednecks to 32?
It seems they want to keep alcohol
out of the high schools.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Redneck Limo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two reasons why it's so hard to
solve a redneck murder:
1) The DNA is all the same
2) There are no dental records
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Redneck Mailbox
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who invented the toothbrush ?
A Redneck.(If it had been invented by
anyone else, it would have been a teeth brush)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you hear about the
$3 million redneck Lottery?
The winner gets $3.00 a year
for a million years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Redneck Weenie Roast
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A new redneck law was just recently passed
When a couple gets divorced, they are STILL cousins.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you hear that the redneck governor's
mansion burned down?
'Yep.. Prit'near took out the whole trailer park..
The library was a total loss too. Both books
went poof . . . up in flames and the governor
hadn't even finished coloring one of them.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A State Troop er pulls over a pickup
on Highway 16 and says to the driver,
'Got any! I..D. ? ' . .
and the driver replies 'Bout wut?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
A Redneck Christmas Sleigh
Friday June 19, 2009
The Funerary Monuments and Statues at Hierapolis
Hierapolis was a critical city for early Christianity, being the home not only of Philip the Evangelist's prophesying daughters but also of Papias, the famous bishop who wrote the first comentary on 'Our Lord's Oracles' in several books. What...
Tuesday June 16, 2009
'You are the Light of the World--Until the Bulb needs Changing'
CHANGING A LIGHT BULB THE CHRISTIAN WAY How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb? Charismatic : Only 1 Hands are already in the air. Pentecostal : 10 One to change the bulb, and nine...
Tuesday June 16, 2009
The Agora at Izmir
Behold one of the archaeologists in charge of the dig at the enormous agora in Izmir (Biblical Smyrna). O.K. this may not be your mental image of an archaeologist, but you need to adjust your thinking in that case. ...
Sunday June 14, 2009
Men at Work-- a Biblical Approach
While you may be amazed at this, it is nonetheless true that when you survey the works of Biblical theology available to us, very seldom does the subject of a theology of work come up. You look in vain...
Friday June 12, 2009
U.S Army Burns Bibles in Afghanistan
Picture courtesy of http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://mycontemplations.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/burning_book.jpg&imgrefurlIn the what's the U.S. coming to department, we have now learned that the U.S Army has been burning Bibles in Aghanistan to prevent them from being given to Afghans and influencing them. This apparently has been...
Wednesday June 10, 2009
The Archaeological Museum at Izmir (Smyrna)
One of the less well known museums in all of Turkiye (yes that's the right spelling) is the one in the home city of the famous second century Christian and martyr Polycarp. This museum is full of things found in...
Tuesday June 9, 2009
The Ethics of Sports-- On Being a Good Sport
Yes that's me with the reasonable facsimile of Payne Stewart at the most famous golf course in my home state of N.C.-- Pinehurst No. 2. In my once in a lifetime opportunity to play the course it was the...
Sunday June 7, 2009
Laodicea-- on a Not so Luke-warm Day
Laodicea of course is a city familiar to all bibliophiles, since it famously is the city referred to in Rev. 3 for its wealthy citizens of diffident faith. It also has connections with the Pauline churches mentioned in Colossians. But...
Friday June 5, 2009
A Faithful Rendering-- Christopher Bryan's 'Render to Caesar'
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Christopher Bryan, Render to Caesar, (Oxford: O.U. Press, 2005), pp. viii+ 185, $35.00. I must confess from the outset that I have a particular inclination to like Christopher...
Thursday June 4, 2009
JEALOUSY
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Wednesday June 3, 2009
AN 'UP-LIFTING' AND CAUTIONARY TALE
(image from Disney/Pixar)I must confess that I have a certain bias towards Pixar films. They are some of the most creative computer generated features out there, and not just because of their technical prowess. Often the stories are moving...
Wednesday June 3, 2009
THE OLIVE PRESSES OF KLAZOMENAI
During the course of the next month, I will be sharing with you from time to time the results of my time in Turkey at archaeological sites in May 2009. The first of these is a site south of...
Wednesday June 3, 2009
Q AND A WITH BISHOP WRIGHT ON 'JUSTIFICATION'
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Tuesday June 2, 2009
NO SAFETY IN THE SANCTUARY: ABORTION DOCTOR BRUTALLY MURDERED IN CHURCH
Cartoon courtesy of Signe Wilkinson. Read more Signe Wilkinson By now most of you will have heard that a doctor well known for performing late term abortions in some cases was murdered Sunday whilst ushering in his Lutheran Church in...
Tuesday June 2, 2009
ROMAN NUMERALS IS COMING!
The second Art West adventure, continuing in a series of archaeological thrillers is about to show up on Amazon and even cheaper at www.wipfandstock.com. The first novel, The Lazarus Effect has been receiving rave reviews, including from Anne Rice,...
Monday June 1, 2009
CLAPTON AND WINWOOD ON A ROLL
I am an old rock n' roller, turned holy roller as well, and two of my favorite artists I have enjoyed over the years are Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood. Here you will find a fine HQ sample of...
Monday June 1, 2009
WITH JUSTIFICATION
N.T. Wright, Justification. God's Plan and Paul's Vision (Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 2009), 279 pages, $25.00 list price. It is never an easy thing to write a rebuttal book if you are genuinely a Christian person. ...
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About Ben Witherington on the Bible and Culture
Bible scholar Ben Witherington is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland. A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies.
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