Jeremiah 29:11 is becoming more popular on social media than John 3:16

As reported by Laura FitzPatrick of the London Daily Telegraph, February 25, 2019 (links in original):

In the beginning - and for centuries that followed - God’s sacrifice of Jesus to express his love on Earth was the most-adored Bible passage for many Christians.

But that is changing, thanks to messages of hope and prosperity being favoured on social media.

“Whereas once John 3:16 was the ‘poster-boy’ text of the 20th century, the latest star is Jeremiah 29:11”, said Rev Dr Peter Phillips, Director of CODEC Research Centre for Digital Theology of St John's College at Durham University.

“In print culture, John 3:16 has been the most popular Bible verse ever, but it has been knocked of its pedestal by the social age. People don’t want to put a verse about Jesus’ death upon the cross on social media, it’s a bit heavy,” he added.

The Bible is made up of more than 30,000 verses and one has historically captured the popularity of Christians above all others, appearing on fast-food and clothes brand packaging.

John 3:16 is famous for being the Bible’s most popular verse, according to Rev Dr Phillips and the Bible Society, and it was famously the late prominent evangelical Christian Billy Graham’s favourite.

Gotta channel my inner Helen Keller, and one of my favourite bible verses. #positivity #jeremiah2911 pic.twitter.com/muV4lbY1lx

— Ashley (@laviebella8) February 21, 2019

But the verse, which reads: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life,” has now been overtaken in popularity by an offer of hope and prosperity, in Jeremiah 29:11.

Instead, Jeremiah 29:11, is the UK’s favourite passage, according to digital Bible provider YouVersion, who’s platform has 350 million users.

It reads: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

It also tops the charts in nine other countries, including Canada and Australia, where religious individuals pick verses concerning personal feelings, rather than the glory of God.

According to experts, the switch is a product of social media and young people’s social performance of the Bible, in line with the trend of displaying wellness and spirituality online.

With apps like Bible Lens - which allows users to create new images using their own photos overlayed with quotes from the Bible - and YouVersion’s search-by-emoji function soaring in popularity, millennials have drastically changed how they approach the Bible’s teachings.

Rev Dr Phillips, who’s book titled Bible, Digital Culture and Social Media is published later this year, said: “We find that millennials tend to share therapeutic messages - it’s far more about their own identity and how faith can help them in their future.

“The result is a shift in public display of the Bible.”

He claims that it fits the general notion that digital-savvy people tend to cherry pick what they share online.

He added: “Users engage in social media to present something about themselves to the audience they themselves curate.

“Social media engagement with the Bible is itself part of the so-called photoshopped self - a form as front staging a person’s Bible engagement.”

But the popularity of Jeremiah 29:11 also comes down to the context of social media, according to the Bible Society, who claim the brevity of social media posts causes problems for passages like John 3:16.

“Passages like John 3:16 concern an eternal perspective and hope beyond death,” Rachel Rounds of the Bible Society told The Telegraph.

“These are not easy concepts to convey on social media which doesn’t really do context or nuance and that’s a challenge for politicians, scientists and the church alike.”

But YouVersion bosses pertain that John 3:16 is an important verse and “remains extremely popular”, as it usually falls in the top 20 verses globally each year, according to their data.

The above article illustrates why we always need to read scripture in context. Jeremiah 29:11 is not a message from God to humanity in general, and especially not to the unsaved, upon whom His wrath abides (John 3:36). This verse isn't even a message to the church, although I've often heard it used as such.

In Jeremiah 27, God is telling the people of Judah to submit to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and go into exile in Babylon. However, the Jews are receiving mixed messages about what's to happen. In Jeremiah 28, Hananiah, claiming to be a prophet of God, tells the people of Judah that within two years, the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar will be broken, and they'll be brought back from exile. Jeremiah has a public dispute with Hananiah, and then the LORD, through Jeremiah, denounces Hananiah as a false prophet, and prophesies that he will die within the year. Hananiah dies two months later, providing evidence that Jeremiah was a true prophet of God--and Jeremiah has been prophesying that the people of Judah will be sent into exile in Babylon as punishment for disobeying God.

In Jeremiah 29, the LORD inspires Jeremiah to write a letter to the Jews in exile, which includes the following (verses 4-14):

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord.
For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

The Jews, who've been told by false prophets that they will soon be delivered, are now being told by a true prophet that they're going to be in Babylon for 70 years. They're not the vanguard of a liberating army, but most of them are going to be there for the rest of their lives, so they may as well make the best of it.

Those who prefer Jeremiah 29:11 to John 3:16 seem to like the thought that God loves them, but are unwilling to accept His terms. God demonstrated His love for us in sending the Lord Jesus Christ to die for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8); to have peace with God (Romans 5:1-2) is possible only through belief in the work done by Christ in shedding His blood for our sins on the cross. The cross is, however, an offense to the natural man (Romans 9:33, Galatians 5:11, I Peter 2:8), and that's just as true in the 21st century as it was in the 1st century.

Church of England abolishes law requiring churches to hold services every Sunday

More evidence of the decline of the once-mighty Church of England; as reported by Izzy Lyons of the London Daily Telegraph, February 23, 2019 (links in original):

Churches will no longer be legally required to conduct a service every Sunday after the General Synod has voted to end a law that has existed since the 17th century.

Canon laws, first passed in 1603 and updated most recently in 1964, stipulate that weekly Sunday services must take place in every church.

However vicars in rural parts of the country, who have been increasingly responsible for “up to 20 churches” in their area due to the decline in clergy, say they are unable to abide by the law and left with little choice but to break it.

In recent years growing numbers of parishes have held one combined Sunday worship where previously each church would have held separate services.

Whilst no vicar has been punished for breaking the canon, Thursday's changes mean that they can now conduct a single Sunday service for several congregations without having to seek written permission.

The Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Rev Pete Broadbent, who first suggested the changes three years ago, said it “clears the way for people to be honest.”

Admitting that weekly service “is a centuries old tradition”, Rev Broadbent said: “What we have been saying is that this canon does not work, it is out of date and we are operating differently in the countryside now.

“It cuts out the bureaucracy.

“This change merely reflects what has been practised for the past 20 years.”

The two laws that were amended include Canon B11, which requires morning and evening prayer to be “said or sung audibly in every parish church every Sunday”. This has now been amended to “in at least one church” in every group.

The second clause, known as Canon B14, previously required Holy Communion to be celebrated “in every parish church”. However, this has been substituted for “in at least one church in each benefice”.

The number of multi parish benefices - defined as a group of churches that are looked after by one priest - have grown significantly in the UK in the past 50 years.

According to figures from the Church of England’s Growth Research Programme, only 17 per cent of their parishes were in multi parish benefices in 1960.

By 2011 this figure had risen to 71 per cent - meaning 8,400 of the Church’s 12,500 parishes are now amalgamated.

"As the number of church attendees and stipendiary clergy has decreased over recent decades, parishes have been amalgamated to form multi-parish benefices,” the report stated in 2011.

In 2017, it was reported that the Church is increasingly turning to “self supporting priests” with weekday jobs such as doctors, writers, teachers, plumbers or farmers. Accounting for one in six clergy, the number of self-supporting priests increased from 2,091 in 2002 to 3,230 in 2016.

According to members of the Synod, the traditional canon law stipulating that weekly services must take place has been regularly broken by priests over the past several decades.

If a member of the clergy is believed to have deliberately broken the protocol, they would be made to face a disciplinary panel under the Clergy Discipline Measure that was passed in 2003. However, the Church is not aware of this ever happening.

Thursday's amendments were voted through almost unanimously by 20 Bishops, 92 Clergy and 118 Laity, with only two voting against the motion.

The Bishop of Salisbury, Nicholas Holtam, who governs a very rural patch, said: “Morning and Evening Prayer are the heartbeat of a church’s life.

“This change is a sensible step which matches resources to reality and gives encouragement to clergy and laity to hold services in one of the churches in a benefice each day.

“This will be much appreciated in rural areas where multi-parish benefices are a reality.”

A Church of England Spokesperson said: “Sunday worship continues to be central to the Church of England’s ministry. The recent adaptation is designed to make it easier for multi-church parishes who rotate services between a group of churches.

“This is often already the case in rural parishes where it is impractical to hold weekly services in every church. This reflects the movement over the past two hundred years of people from the country to cities.

“The Church of England now has a great variety of services throughout the week, with midweek services increasing in popularity.”

British pagans approve of Royal Mail stamp of Thor

People who had accomplished things of note used to be honoured on postage stamps; now postage stamps, like movies, are mainly about comic book characters rather than people. As reported by Patrick Sawer and Olivia Rudgard of the London Daily Telegraph, February 23, 2019 (links in original):

Thor superhero stamp

There cannot be that many things in national life to celebrate for those who still worship the Norse gods.

Pagan druids and their followers might gather at Stonehenge every solstice, but there is no special national holiday to celebrate either Odin and those who live with him in Asgard, the home of the gods.

But now, after years of being ignored, the Odinists and those who still look to Norse mythology for inspiration and guidance, have finally got something to smile about.

The Royal Mail is to issue a ‘pagan’ stamp next month, depicting the Norse god Thor, the hammer wielding god of thunder and protector of mankind.

Admittedly it forms part of a set of stamps commemorating Marvel Comics superheroes - of whom Thor is one, enjoying his own comic series and film spin offs - rather than the original figure of Germanic mythology.

But the Odinist Fellowship are pretty pleased all the same.

They are a registered charity that exists to "promote the original old religion of the English people and the native faith of the northern lands", so they naturally welcome any celebration of Norse mythology.

Ralph Harrison, the director of the Odinist Fellowship, said: "Considering how the Christian church tried so hard to eliminate the images of the Gods, it is with some satisfaction that we will be seeing people of all religions and none, who use this stamp, acknowledging, in a small way, the God Thor's continued presence in our nation's cultural life."

The Odinists - who worship at a Grade II listed former almshouse in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, dating back to the Tudor period - are so pleased they aren’t even complaining that the Thor shown in the stamps is the one created by an American comic publisher rather than the traditional depiction of him.

He’s still their man (or god), they say.

Mr Harrison said: "We recognise that the Marvel Comic depiction of Thor differs somewhat in its iconography from descriptions given in ancient sources, such as the Eddas; but Marvel seem to have based their image on that of Marten Eskil Winge's famous painting, ‘Thor Fights the Giants’, now on display in the Swedish National Museum in Stockholm.”

The fellowship points out that under the terms of the Postal Services Act 2011 the design of all British postage stamps must be approved by the Queen, and this is the first time that the Monarch has approved a design depicting one of the Gods of pre-Christian northern Europe on a stamp.

The Royal Mail has been previously criticised its choice of imagery for stamps.

It was attacked by Boris Johnson last year for not issuing a commemorative set of stamps to mark Brexit and in 2008 its decision to include the family planning pioneer Marie Stopes in a set commemorating women’s achievement was criticised by those who accuse of her being a eugenicist and Nazi sympathiser.

But on this occasion even the Church of England, of whom the Queen is the head and Supreme Governor, appears to have no complaint about the choice of a pagan god for a set of stamps carrying her mail.

Asked to comment the Church of England declined.

The Royal Mail said the series depicting Thor and other Marvel superheroes, including Spiderman and Black Panther, celebrated the impact of the comics in Britain and the contribution made to their distinctive look by British artists and designers.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “The Marvel Comics stories have been enjoyed for decades by generations of UK fans, and in the 1970s Marvel launched a UK imprint of its comics.

“The 1980s, in particular, saw US comic publishers heavily recruiting British writers and illustrators, who increasingly worked on the American publications and began to inject darker storylines and widened the appeal of the characters. One such artist is Alan Davis, who designed the new Special Stamps, and has worked with Marvel since the early 1980s and first illustrated Captain Britain in 1985.”

Membership in Swiss churches continues to decline

Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8b

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; I Timothy 4:1

As reported by The Local (Switzerland), January 31, 2019 (links in original):

The Swiss Federal Statistics Office has just published new figures on the religion in the country. Here are seven key takeaways.

1) Catholics are the largest religious group in Switzerland

Members of the Catholic Church (35.9 percent) made up the largest religious community in Switzerland in 2017, followed by members of the Swiss Reformed Church (25 percent).

A total of 5.4 percent of people belonged to Islamic communities while members of Jewish communities comprised 0.3 percent of the population.

2) More and more people are leaving the big churches

The number of people who belong to the Catholic and Swiss Reformed churches is continuing to fall in Switzerland.

In 1990, 46.2 percent of people in Switzerland belonged to the Catholic Church but by 2017 that figure had dropped to 35.9 percent. For the Reformed Church the decline is even greater: 39.6 percent in 1990 against 23.8 percent in 2017.
3) The number of people who don't belong to a religious community has risen dramatically

With so many people leaving the large Catholic and Reformed churches, it makes sense that the number of ‘unaffiliated’ people has also risen – from just 3.4 percent in 1990 to 26 percent in 2017.

This figure is highest among people aged 25 to 44: 32.5 percent. The percentage of people aged 65 and over who don’t belong to a church is 16.1 percent.

4) People are (probably) not just leaving the church for financial reasons

Relations between church and state are a cantonal matter in Switzerland and in most cantons church members pay a direct ‘church tax’ on their income. The amount of tax varies from canton to canton and even from commune to commune and often runs to hundreds of francs a year.

But while the FSO statistics do not reveal why people are leaving the church, it appears money may not be not the main reason.

The authors of another newly published study on religion in Zurich found that older city residents often left the church because they no longer agreed with its position on issues while young people tended to leave because they had never believed.

In both cases, however, money was not one of the main reasons cited.

Meanwhile, religion researcher Stefan Huber from the University of Bern told the Der Bund newspaper that Switzerland was becoming increasingly secular.

“In contrast to how it used to be, it is no longer necessary to belong to a church to be a good Swiss,” he said.

5) Not everyone who leaves the church is a non-believer

According to the FSO figures, only a third of people who are unaffiliated with a church describe themselves as atheists. One quarter say they are agnostic, one in ten say they believe there is just one god, and around one in three express a belief in a higher power.

The new figures also reveal religion or spirituality plays a major role for 56 percent of people in difficult moments in their lives. In addition, nearly half of all people (47 percent of all people) said spiritual or religious considerations were important when it came to raising children, and 16 percent said these considerations influenced their political views.

6) Over half of all women believe in ‘guardian angels’

Women in Switzerland are more likely to belong to a church than men (just) and are more likely to pray on a daily basis (35 percent against 20 percent).

They are also far more likely to think there are “probably” or “definitely” guardian angels or supernatural beings that watch over them (58 percent for women versus 37 percent for men).

Finally, 46 percent of women believe there are people with healing or clairvoyant powers. For men, the figure is 42 percent.

7) There are huge regional differences in church membership

The percentage of people who are not members of a church varies wildly – from a high of 49.6 percent in the canton of Basel-Stadt to just 9.4 percent in the canton of Uri. In Zurich, the figure is 29.2 percent, in Geneva it’s 41.3 percent and in Bern it’s 20.5 percent.

In general, there are more church members in predominantly Catholic cantons than in predominantly Reformed cantons.

Again, the FSO figures don’t reveal why this is the case, but Huber gave Der Bund two possible reasons. Firstly, in the Catholic Church, the church itself is seen as an essential intermediary between God and the people whereas members of the Reformed Church do not need the church to have contact with God.

Secondly, Huber noted the Swiss Reformed Church is much more closely connected with Swiss culture, which means it struggles to attract immigrants.

The FSO statistics show one in four members of the Catholic Church in Switzerland has a foreign passport. For the Reformed Church, that number is just one in twenty.

Swiss government refuses to support efforts to abolish the country's blasphemy law

The arguments used by those supporting the legalization of blasphemy provide evidence for blogger Vox Day's contention that "freedom of speech" has its origins in an Enlightenment reaction against the blasphemy laws that were in place in almost all Western countries. As reported by George Mills of The Local (Switzerland), February 22, 2019 (links in original):

The Swiss government said this week it would not lend its support to plans to strike a 'blasphemy' clause from the country’s penal code despite similar moves in other countries in recent times.
The government’s statement came after Green Liberal MP Beat Flach said a clause in the penal code which makes blasphemy punished by a fine had no place in a ‘secular and liberal’ state and limited free speech.

Under the article in question, any person "who publicly and maliciously insults or mocks the religious convictions of others, and in particularly their belief in God" can be fined.

In addition, fines can also be imposed on any person "who maliciously prevents, disrupts or publicly mocks an act of worship" or "who maliciously desecrates a place or object that is intended for a religious ceremony or an act of worship".

But in a motion (here in German) put before the Swiss parliament, Flach said the article meant that religious belief could not be criticised to the same degree as other world views.

He also argued that people’s right to freely practice their religion was guaranteed by other Swiss legislation including provisions outlawing incitement to racial hatred or discrimination.

He went on to point out that countries including Ireland, Malta and France had already struck blasphemy clauses from their books.

But the Swiss government came out in defence of the fines for attacks on religion.

It noted that while the Swiss constitution guarantees freedom of expression, and this was of “central importance” in a free state, there were also limits to such expression and that it had to be exercised with responsibility.

The executive also argued that the clause in the penal code outlawed only the most serious attacks on religious freedom – which is also guaranteed by the Swiss constitution – and that this prohibition was necessary to guarantee the successful coexistence of people with different religious beliefs.

In fact, there were less than 30 criminal convictions under the blasphemy clause from 2011 to 2017, according to Swiss media, while the last high profile case was in 1960 when Swiss painter Kurt Fahrner was fined 100 Swiss francs and handed a suspended three-day jail term for his painting of a crucified naked woman.

Lastly, the Swiss executive also noted it was impossible to compare the situation in different countries as the blasphemy laws involved were different. In Ireland for example, a controversial section of the constitutional clause on freedom of speech made “blasphemous, seditious or indecent matter” a punishable offence.

The Irish overwhelmingly voted to scrap this ban on blasphemy in a referendum last year.

See also my post:

Ireland votes to remove blasphemy from the Constitution (October 28, 2018)

Archaeologists are still searching for the exact location of Ai

Aerial view of archaeological excavation. (Photo courtesy Dr Scott Stripling)

Archaeologists who reject the truth of the Bible are, of course, fools. You won't find what you're looking for if you're looking in the wrong place. As reported by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz of Breaking Israel News, February 12, 2019 (links in original):

Dr. Scott Stripling is in the process of having his theory concerning the precise location of the Biblical city of Ai and if it is accepted, it may be a major step in proving the Bible is a valid source for archaeologists.

Dr. Stripling, provost at The Bible Seminary in Katy (Houston) Texas, is a man with a deep faith in the Bible as well as a passion for scientific truth. These seemingly conflicting forces have driven him to sift through the sands of Israel for over 20 years. Dr. Stripling serves as the archaeological director for the Associates for Biblical Research (ABR), a Christian organization that brings together Biblical research and archaeology to mutually advance both disciplines.

According to the Book of Joshua, the City of Ai was conquered by the Israelites on their second attempt. After an initial attempt failed due to a sin committed by an Israelite name Achan resulted in a demoralizing defeat, a God-directed ambush led to the Israelites conquering the city. The king is captured and hanged on a tree until the evening. His body is then placed at the city gates and stones are placed on top of his body. The Israelites then burn Ai completely.

Then Yehoshua burned down Ai, and turned it into a mound of ruins for all time, a desolation to this day. Joshua 8:28

As a site that plays a prominent role in the Exodus narrative, Biblical scholars and archeologists have always been intensely interested in locating Ai. Based on a surface survey he conducted in the region in 1924, W.F. Albright concluded that et-Tell, 10 miles north of Jerusalem, was the location of the Biblical city of Ai. After excavating the site from 1933-1935, Judith Marquet-Krause, she concluded that the village was built on top of the Early Bronze Age remains.

Marquet-Krause did not find evidence of occupation of the site during the Late Bronze Age (1400 BCE) which is when most archaeologists assume the Israelites entered the land of Israel. Joseph Callaway, professor of Old Testament and biblical archaeology, conducted digs at et-Tell from 1964-1972. Callaway concluded over the course of this research that the city of Ai described in the biblical account did not exist when Joshua encountered it. Albright proposed that the narrative in the Book of Joshua refers to the conquest of Bethel, a few miles from et-Tell.

As a result of the lack of archaeological evidence at et-Tell for the conquest of Ai in the days of Joshua, most archaeologists today reject the historical veracity of the account of the conquest of Ai as reported in the Bible.

In recent years, some archaeologists have begun to question the theory that et-Tell is the location of Ai. In 1994, Bryant G. Wood, a member of ABR, began digging at Khirbet el-Maqatir to investigate the possibility that it might be the elusive site of Ai. He was encouraged by the writings of Edward Robinson, an American Biblical scholar and Orientalist, who explored Palestine several times in the mid-19th century. According to Robinson’s accounts, when he visited Khirbet el-Maqatir in 1838, the local Arabs told him the site was the location of Ai.

In an article in 2008, Wood noted that neither the topography of et-Tell nor of Bethel conformed to the Biblical description. Wood suggested that Khirbet el-Maqatir as the location of Biblical Ai. Wood’s theory, based on an Exodus in the 15th century BCE, was criticized by many archaeologists who set the Exodus in the 13th century BCE.

ABR is attempting to confirm this. The remains must indicate a fortified city with a gate in the north. Remains of a gate were discovered in ABR’s first year of digging. The ABR team also discovered pottery from the late bronze era.

Dr. Stripling directed the excavation from 2013-2017.. Dr. Stripling explained that to make their case, the evidence needed to fit certain criteria. The Biblical account describes an ambush carried out by Israelite troops hiding to the west of the city, hiding nearby but out of sight.

He instructed them as follows: “Mind, you are to lie in ambush behind the city; don’t stay too far from the city, and all of you be on the alert” Joshua 8:4

Dr. Stripling believes the Israelite troops hid in Wadi Sheban, a dry wash to the west of the site. To verify the plausibility of this theory, three members of the ABR excavation team equipped with backpacks ran from the dry wash to the location, arriving in exactly five minutes. It should be noted that et-Tell does not have any such location to the west capable of concealing troops.

Such remarkable results do not come easily and conditions in what Stripling refers to as “the Wild West” were basic in the best of times.

“There were 14 years of difficult digging with an 8-year hiatus due to the Intifada,” Dr. Stripling said, describing a site with no running water or bathrooms. “We suffered from constant vandalism. But we persevered and did an excellent job of excavating.”

And hopefully, the hard work paid off. Dr. Stripling is currently preparing to present his findings for publication later this year, presenting what he describes as “compelling evidence” for his case.

ABR is also excavating Shilo where the tabernacle stood for 369 years.

“This gives us a regional perspective, an overview of what was happening in the highlands of Israel in antiquity,” Stripling explained. “We can see the transitions of the culture.”

Dr. Stripling is aware of those who dispute his claim and notes that the cause may be a trend towards secularism in the field of archaeology. The source of this trend, he claims, are in the roots of archaeology.

“Allbright was a genius and a believer. He had a religious background but he was not finding archaeological evidence to support an Exodus in the 15th century BCE,” Dr. Stripling explained. “But you have to understand, at the time, they had explored a tiny amount, less than one percent of what we have explored since.”

“Allbright then went on to train the next generation of archaeologists, giants in the field like Yigal Yadin. That next generation had already jettisoned the original 15th-century date for the Exodus and set it in the 13th century. The third generation already began to view it as pejorative to be described as a Biblical archaeologist.”

Dr. Stripling related how he once lectured a group of Ph.D. students at Hebrew University on Mount Scopus whom he described as “the future leaders of archaeology.” Dr. Stripling taught about his methods including his referring to the Biblical text.

“After the lecture, they lined up to talk to me, to shake my hand,” Stripling said. “They thanked me, saying that I was the first person who had taught them while using the Bible. Like me, they used texts from Egypt and Mesopotamia, but I was the only one who referred to the Bible.”

Dr. Stripling expressed great respect for the archaeologists he has worked with in Israel but believes there is an unjustified “anti-Bible” bias in the field.

“Even if you dispute the historical reliability of the Bible, which I would take issue with, you can’t deny the hundreds of synchronisms between the archaeological data and the Biblical text.”

Dr. Stripling remains optimistic.

“There are a handful of believers and we are hoping to raise up a new generation of Biblical archaeologists,” Dr. Stripling said.

“My work in archaeology in Israel has affected me profoundly as a believer,” I already believed in the Bible but as the years go by and I have seen hundreds of examples of synchronization between the material culture we are excavating and what I read in the text. This is a constant reminder that there is a God and that he left a record of his work in history. It is an incredible honor to lead this work.”

Dr. Stripling quoted as his inspiration a verse in Psalms.

Your servants take delight in its stones, and cherish its dust. Psalms 102:15

“Archaeology helps establish our Christian roots in Judaism, in the very soil of Israel,” Dr. Stripling concluded.

ABR encourages people who wish a hands-on experience searching for Biblical clues to volunteer at one of their digs in the summer. Additional information can be found on their website.

Mainstream media belatedly discovers sexual abuse within the Southern Masonic Baptist Convention

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6 (also Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2)

As is so often the case, mainstream media are late to come to a story, and then act as if they were the ones who discovered it. An example is 20 years, 700 victims: Southern Baptist sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reforms by Robert Downen, Lise Olsen, and John Tedesco in the Houston Chronicle, February 10, 2019--the first of three articles on the subject, mentioning names and incidents.

It comes as no surprise to this blogger to see mainstream newspapers exposing sexual abuse in the SBC; I just wonder why it took them so long to get around to it. All anyone had to do was do a Google search using the term "Baptist" and "predator" to find the website Stop Baptist Predators and blog Stop Baptist Predators, both by Christa Brown, who has been warning about this matter for more than a decade. I recommend her site and blog for research purposes, although I don't think she's doctrinally sound.

Another useful blog is let's stop pastor darrell gilyard together by Tiffany Croft, which is on my blogroll. The information provided in these sites isn't particularly current, but is still relevant. The fact that the sites go back a few years shows how long that sexual abuse within the SBC has been an issue that some have tried to draw attention to, before its belated discovery by mainstream media.

February 24, 2019 update: Click on the links for the rest of the Houston Chronicle series:

Part 2: Offend, then repeat: Southern Baptist churches hired ministers accused of past sex offenses (February 12, 2019)

Part 3: Preying on teens: All too often, Southern Baptist youth pastors take advantage of children (February 13, 2019)

March 19, 2019 update: The same thing has been taking place in Independent Fundamental Baptist Churches, as reported in a series of articles by Sarah Smith in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, December 9, 2018:

Hundreds of sex abuse allegations found in fundamental Baptist churches across U.S.

These ‘men of God’ sexually abused children. Then they found refuge at other churches

‘It’s ruined me.’ Former independent fundamental Baptists describe life in the church

‘My earliest memory of being molested was when I was 4 years old. It was Sunday school’


HT: Vox Popoli