Review of A Museum in Baghdad
Hannah Khalil’s new play A Museum in Baghad is an ambitious mix of fact, fiction, debate, and magical realism, which tells a fascinating story about individuals and the country of Iraq.
Ashurbanipal
The king Ashurbanipal was the king of Assyria at the height of the Assyrian Empire’s power. I recently visited the excellent Ashurbanipal exhibition at the British Museum, which is well worth a visit.
Ancient Canaan: part 4
How do we know what the Canaanites believed? How did their beliefs influence the Israelites? Tablets discovered in the ancient city of Ugarit help answer those questions.
Ancient Canaan: part 3
How do we know what the Canaanites believed? How did their beliefs influence the Israelites? Tablets discovered in the ancient city of Ugarit help answer those questions.
Ancient Canaan: part 2
How do we know what the Canaanites believed? How did their beliefs influence the Israelites? Tablets discovered in the ancient city of Ugarit help answer those questions.
Review of Stories from Ancient Canaan
How do we know what the Canaanites believed? How did their beliefs influence the Israelites? Tablets discovered in the ancient city of Ugarit help answer those questions.
Juvenal and the Lord’s Supper
In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes about the divisions between rich and poor, including meals they were supposed to be sharing. These are brought vividly to life by the Roman satirist Juvenal.
Review of Transforming the Way we Think
How do we transform the way that we usually think? One answer to that question is to talk to people who think differently to us! This is the approach taken by Durham University’s Institute of Advanced Studies. This book summarises those discussions so far.
Three book challenge
Books for Life is a new initiative to help encourage Christians to read more books. People are being encouraged to talk about 3 books which have changed their lives and why. This is my contribution!
Re-telling stories
Telling stories is an important part of how the Bible was written. But how reliable were those stories before they were written down? Recent research on the accuracy of Indigenous Australian story-telling shows how reliable it can be!
Inspiring Psalm 104
Psalm 104 has been described as “Genesis 1 set to music”. That’s clearly the main inspiration for the psalm, and one which most readers will quickly realise. But, it’s not the only source of inspiration. It’s less well known that the psalm is also inspired by the Egyptian Hymn to the Sun.
Review of Faith in the Face of Empire
What does the Good News look like for Palestinians? What does the Bible have to say about the severe problems that Palestine faces? Mitri Raheb is a Palestinian Christian and has written the book Faith in the Face of Empire to answer these questions.
Joseph and Sinuhe
How does Ancient Egyptian literature help us understand the bible? The Egyptian story The Tale of Sinuhe helps us understand better the narrative of Joseph in the book of Genesis.
The Ice Age Mind: Indonesia update
40,000 years ago people were thinking, believing and feeling like us in Europe. But what about elsewhere? New evidence has been found in Indonesia, which challenges some of what we thought we knew.
Archaeology and the United Monarchy
What does radiocarbon dating have to do with understanding the world of the Bible? Quite a lot (if you use it properly…!). Does it have anything to say about King David? Quite possibly…
olem - From the past to eternity 