I came across this article in Newsweek, and archaeologists may have discovered King Solomon’s mine. This could be a major discovery, and add real evidence to the Biblical references to King Solomon.
Entries Tagged 'Judaism' ↓
Has King Solomon’s Mine been Found?
October 27th, 2008 — Archeology, Christian, Geography, History, Judaism, Mormon, Old Testament, Science
Esther lived in Iran
October 12th, 2008 — Archeology, Early Christian History, Geography, Israel, Judaism, Mormon, Movie/Book Reviews, Multi-Faith, Muslim, Old Testament
I just finished a book called “DNA & Tradition”, by Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman. The book discusses evidence of Hebrew DNA, and talks about the science and religion of Judaism. As part of the discussion, I learned these interesting facts.
The oldest diaspora communities are in Assyria, later conquered by Babylonia (now modern-day Iraq) and Persia (now modern day Iran). They have been there for 2000-2500 years.
What’s the difference between Arabs & Persians?
September 25th, 2008 — Christian, Culture, DNA, History, Islam, Judaism, Mormon, Multi-Faith, Muslim, Race, Science
Ok, I will confess that I love learning about the Middle East. I love learning more about Jews, Muslims, Arabs, etc. I have so much to learn.
I’m a grad student working on some genetic studies (one of my many jobs). As part of the genetic study we are doing, we have our study participants tell us their race. In medical studies, different treatments can affect different races quite dramatically.
Joshua’s Unholy War
August 19th, 2008 — Canon, Christian, History, Intellectualism, Islam, Israel, Judaism, Mormon, Old Testament, Scripture, Theology
When most of us hear the word “jihad” or “holy war”, we immediately know that a jihad is not what God wants. Most of us feel the same when we hear the word “crusade.” Really, does anyone think God wants people to fight in his name?
In the book of Joshua, Joshua claims to be commanded by God to destroy everyone and everything in what is now the land of Israel. Continue reading →
DNA and Tradition, Guide for the Perplexed
July 13th, 2008 — 10 tribes, Book of Mormon, DNA, Intellectualism, Judaism, Mormon, Multi-Faith, Science, Theology
Ok, the title of my post actually comes from two different books. The first is called “DNA and Tradition: The Genetic Link to the Ancient Hebrews“, by Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman. The rabbi looks into DNA evidence concerning the tribe of Levi, as well as the other lost tribes of Israel.
In the introduction to the book, there are several interesting quotes, and he quotes from a book written by Rabbi Moses Maimonides (1135 – 1204 ) called Guide for the Perplexed, which examines the issues of being a religious scientist.
Does Tablet Predict Christ’s Death and Resurrection?
July 6th, 2008 — Archeology, Christian, Early Christian History, Easter, History, Judaism, Mormon, Old Testament, Resurrection, Science
I came across an article in the NY Times about a tablet dating from before the time of Christ, that “may speak of a messiah who will rise from the dead after three days.” This would be a major shift in understanding of Jewish thought at the time of Jesus. The discovery is being called “a Dead Sea Scroll on stone.”
Here are some of the more interesting quotes from the article:
“Some Christians will find it shocking — a challenge to the uniqueness of their theology — while others will be comforted by the idea of it being a traditional part of Judaism,” Mr. Boyarin said.
How Should We Define Scripture?
June 22nd, 2008 — Book of Mormon, Canon, Christian, Gnosticism, History, Judaism, Mormon, Old Testament, Scripture, Theology
I posted previously on the topics of Gnosticism, Marcionism, and Montanism in my previous three posts. While discussing Marcionism, there was a debate about the apostasy. The topic got sidetracked into a discussion of the definition of scripture, so I thought I’d post a new topic regarding that topic.
Falcon makes the case that Joseph is a fraud because of his polygamy, and by extension, the Book of Mormon should not be considered scripture. So, I decided to issue a challenge. Here’s the reader’s digest version of the challenge, but you can see the entire set of instructions here.
Gnosticism, Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi Library
May 21st, 2008 — Archeology, Early Christian History, Gnosticism, Israel, Judaism, Mormon, Scripture
My previous post comments had drifted off topic, so I thought I’d post a new topic along those lines.
Gnosticism means “secret knowledge.” This is not to be confused with the term Agnostic, which means “without knowledge.” Typically, Agnostic people are without knowledge of God. Some are atheists, but not all. Agnostics typically are ambivalent about whether God exists or not.
Gnostics, on the other hand, date from the time of Christ. Gnostic should probably be considered a generic term, such as Protestant. For example, while Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, etc. are all considered “protestant”, they certainly don’t all believe exactly the same. Protestant is a term to group nearly all “non-Catholic” groups together. In essence, these groups are “protesting” against some of the beliefs of the Catholic church.
Have the Lost 10 Tribes been found?
April 19th, 2008 — 10 tribes, Archeology, Book of Mormon, Geography, History, Islam, Israel, Judaism, Malay, Mormon, Movie/Book Reviews, Movies, Scripture, Theology
Ok, I probably won’t get too many comments on this, but it is an interesting topic for me. For some quick background, I previously posted on this topic. I recently purchased a copy of “Quest for the Lost Tribes” by Simcha Jacobovichi. In this documentary, he tries to make a case where he identifies most of the lost tribes, and their possible locations throughout the world. He comes up with some startling conclusions.
What is interesting to me about these lost tribes is the connection to the Book of Mormon. The BOM claims that the Nephites were descendants to the Tribe of Manasseh. So I was interested to see what insights the movie might have on this tribe in particular.
Is the Book of Abraham related to Muslim texts?
February 16th, 2008 — Islam, Judaism, Mormon, Multi-Faith, Muslim, Old Testament, Scripture, Theology
I was reading an article in Time Magazine a while back about how Abraham is a central figure in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. I was intrigued to learn that the article states, “The Koran includes scenes from Abraham’s childhood in which he chides his father for believing in idols and survives, Daniel-like, in a fiery furnace to which he is condemned for his fealty to Allah.” As I recall, the print version of the magazine had additional information on Abraham and Islam, including more details of this story.
To me, this sounds very similar to the account in the Pearl of Great Price. Is it possible, that Joseph translated a Muslim text? I find no accounts of this in the Bible, and I am not aware of any apocryphal writings about this story. Is anyone out there familiar with this? Are there other parallels with Islam, or is the story found elsewhere?
