R. Albert Mohler Jr.'s Blog, page 433

The Briefing 09-25-12

Middle Schools Add A Team Rule: Get A Drug Test… Some NYC Schools To Offer “Morning After” Pills… Eastern Germany: The Most Godless Place On Earth… The Gospel Of Jesus’ Wife? When Sensationalism Masquerades As Scholarship… Let There Be Wife, Jesus’s Wife Keep Reading

And The War Came: A Conversation About The Civil War with Allen Guelzo

And The War Came: A Conversation About The Civil War with Allen Guelzo Keep Reading

The Briefing 09-24-12

Pakistan Hit By Deadly Riots Over Anti-Muslim Film… Pakistani Minister Offers Bounty Over Anti-Islam Video… Exploiting the Prophet… A 21st-Century Islam… Tariq Ali: The West ‘Created This Monster’… ‘Innocence of Muslims’ May Fail Free-Speech Test Keep Reading

James 1:9-15

‘Staying in His Lane’ — Joel Osteen’s Gospel of Affirmation Without Salvation

Joel Osteen was back on CNN this week, appearing Thursday morning on “Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien.” Osteen’s new book, I Declare: 31 Promises to Speak Over Your Life, recently hit the nation’s bookstores. Keep Reading

The Briefing 09-21-12

Rising Tide Of Restrictions On Religion… Some Religious Leaders See A Threat As Europe Grows More Secular… Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Defense Of Marriage Act Bound For Supreme Court… Both Sides Gear Up In Defense Of Marriage Appeal… Osteen Gets Serious On Sex, Prosperity And Politics… The Hobbit 75th Birthday Celebrated Worldwide Keep Reading

The Briefing 09-20-12

The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife? When Sensationalism Masquerades As Scholarship… The Inside Story Of A Controversial New Text About Jesus… Atheism: Growing Disbelief… What Does The ‘New’ In ‘New Atheism’ Really Mean? Keep Reading

The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife? When Sensationalism Masquerades as Scholarship

The whole world changed on Tuesday. At least, that is what many would have us to believe. Smithsonian magazine, published by the Smithsonian Institution, declares that the news released Tuesday was “apt to send jolts through the world of biblical scholarship — and beyond.” Really?

What was this news? Professor Karen King of the Harvard Divinity School announced at a conference in Rome that she had identified an ancient papyrus fragment that includes the phrase, “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife.’” Within hours, headlines around the world advertised the announcement with headlines like “Ancient Papyrus Could Be Evidence that Jesus Had a Wife” (The Telegraph).

The Smithsonian article states that “the announcement at an academic conference in Rome is sure to send shock waves through the Christian world.” The magazine’s breathless enthusiasm for the news about the papyrus probably has more to do with advertising its upcoming television documentary than anything else, but the nation’s most prestigious museum can only injure its reputation with this kind of sensationalism. Keep Reading

The Briefing 09-19-12

Chicago Teachers End Strike, Classes Resume Wednesday… A Faded Piece Of Papyrus Refers To Jesus’ Wife Keep Reading

The Briefing 09-18-12

Cultural Clash Fuels Muslims Angry At Online Video… Muslim Rage And The Last Gasp Of Islamic Hate… Niall Ferguson: Obama’s Mideast Meltdown… Protesters Mark First Anniversary Of Occupy Wall Street Movement Keep Reading