Nefertiti’s Eyes

Nefertiti was one of the most famous women of all ancient Egypt. She was the wife of Akhenaten. Her name means “the beautiful woman has come.” Her bust can be seen in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. Not much is known about her. She appeared with Akhenaten during his fourth year at el-Amarna, which was Akhenaten’s new city.

One peculiar characteristic of Nefertiti’s famous bust is the shape of her eye. In an article published in Archaeology, Earl L. Ertman wrote:

One of the earliest appearances of Nefertiti’s unusual eye shape is on a stela showing the royal family. Found at Amarna and now in Berlin, it is dated by an inscription to before years 8 through 12 of Akhenaten’s reign, or around 1350 B.C. On the stela, however, Akhenaten’s eye shape is “normal” and resembles those seen on sculptures of him in Thebes, but Nefertiti’s is not. So this stela may show a real, physical condition.

It could be that Nefertiti had an epicanthic fold, a piece of skin from the upper eyelid covering the inner edge of the eye. This feature is found not just in people of East Asian descent, but also in individuals with a number of different syndromes--groups of symptoms characteristic of an abnormality--some of which are genetically based. Some syndromes are debilitating, others less so, and still others are passed only from mothers to daughters.

The article on Nefertiti’s eye was published in the March-April issue of Archaeology and it is available free online.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tag: Akhenaten, Amarna Age, King Tut, Nefertiti

G. K. Chesterton on God

Here is a very good observation about God and culture:

G. K. Chesterton made this observation about our culture: "You are free in our time to say that God does not exist; you are free to say that He exists and is evil. ... You may talk of God as a metaphor or mystification ... and it is not merely that nobody punishes, but nobody protests. But if you speak of God as a fact, ... as a reason for changing one’s conduct, then the modern world will stop you somehow if it can."

HT: Greg Laurie at WorldNetDaily.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Culture, G. K. Chesterton, God

Seabury-Western Seminary

I have been involved in theological education for the past 30 years, 20 of them spent teaching Old Testament at Northern Baptist Seminary. Northern Baptist Seminary is part of a consortium known as ACTS, or The Association of Chicago Theological Schools. ACTS was organized in 1984 by twelve theological schools located in the Chicago area “to provide means for cooperation among the member institutions in the areas of student cross-registration, library access and acquisitions, interchange among faculty members in the disciplines of theological education, and communications between the schools” (ACTS Web page).

One of the theological schools that is part of ACTS is Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. Seabury-Western Theological Seminary is a seminary of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to prepare ministers to serve churches in Anglican traditions and in other Christian denominations. On February 20, 2008, the administration of Seabury-Western Seminary made the following announcement:

The Board of Trustees of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary spent two days at its regular February meeting in discussion of the immediate opportunities and challenges before the seminary. There are, first, enormously creative opportunities facing seminaries today. Many areas of the church are developing new ways both of doing and preparing for ministry. And multiple church groups continue to call for a new range of educational services from our institutions of theological education: continuing education for clergy, lay education, distance learning, and consulting services for congregations and dioceses.

At the same time, all the seminaries of the Episcopal Church face real economic and missional challenges. The stand-alone residential model developed in the nineteenth century is becoming unsustainable for most of our institutions. Bishops, congregations, and seminarians have fewer resources to allot to the education of seminarians. And the cost of theological education has resulted in an unprecedented level of student debt.

Like many other Episcopal Church institutions, over the past two decades Seabury has both confronted and thought hard about how it can adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the present moment. We have come to the realization that we cannot continue to operate as we have in the past and that there is both loss and good news in that. We believe that the church does not need Seabury in its present form; there are a number of other schools who do what we have traditionally done as well as we do. But we also believe that the church very much needs a seminary animated by and organized around a new vision of theological education—one that is centered in a vision of Baptism and its implications for the whole church, one which is flexible and adaptive and collaborative in nature. We are committed to Seabury’s historic and ongoing ministry as a vital center of theological education, reflection, and congregational study. We are enthusiastic about the prospect of doing this in a new and, we hope, more economically feasible and pedagogically innovative way. At its heart, Seabury will always be a school in service of the mission of God as proclaimed and enacted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Board of Trustees also made the following decisions:

The Executive Committee affirms that Seabury will no longer offer the M.Div. as a freestanding 3-year residential program. This does not preclude offering the M.Div. in other formats.

The Executive Committee accepts the 3 following recommendations of the Planning Committee:

1. That Seabury will immediately suspend recruitment and admissions to all degree and certificate programs in this time of discernment.

2. That Seabury will enable all current D.Min. students to complete their programs.

3. That Seabury will assist all current M.Div., MTS, MA, and certificate students to find alternative arrangements for the completion of their programs as may be required.

It is sad that Seabury-Western had to make such a decision. The Episcopal Church in the USA is going through a very difficult time, a time of challenge that will demand the best decisions from those who are in the leadership of the denomination.

I found this information about Seabury-Western at Blue Cord, a blog written by Kevin Wilson. Kevin is an Episcopalian scholar who teaches at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.

Those of us who are involved in theological education feel the deep pain of the people at Seabury-Western. We should keep Seabury-Western’s administration, staff, faculty, and students in our thoughts and prayers.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Anglican, Seabury-Western,

“Him That Pisseth Against the Wall”

One of the most colorful verses in the Bible is found in 1 Kings 14:10 (KJV):

Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

In the context of the verse, the expression “him that pisseth against the wall” means “a male.” However, the origin of the expression in ancient Israel is a matter of discussion.

How should preachers preach from this text? How to use the words of this text in proclaiming the gospel? I have to confess that I have never preached from this text and probably never will.

Here is how a preacher explains the expression “him that pisseth against the wall.”






Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tag: Preaching

Found: The Ark of the Covenant

Tudor Parfitt, a professor at the University of London’s prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies, said that he has found the Ark of the Covenant, rather, a replacement container for the original Ark in “a dusty bottom shelf in a museum in Harare, Zimbabwe.”

This “important” news of the discovery of the Ark (or its replacement) is being reported by TIME Magazine.

Image: The Ark of Covenant (Credit: TIME)

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Ark of the Covenant, Tudor Parfitt

Noah’s Ark and Satellite Archaeology

Here we go again! Porcher Taylor, a professor at the University of Virginia is using “satellite archaeology” to search for Noah’s Ark. The following is an excerpt from an article published in the Telegraph:

From his office at the University of Richmond in Virginia, [Professor Porcher Taylor] has utilised a series of innovations in high-resolution commercial satellite imagery first developed for US spy agencies to try to work out whether an unusually-shaped “anomaly” on the ice-capped upper glacier of Mt Ararat in eastern Turkey is actually the remains of Noah’s Ark.

Prof Taylor, a national security analyst, describes his investigation as “satellite archaeology” and refers to GeoEye, the commercial satellite operator that has served as a “space-based Indiana Jones” for him since its 1999 launch. He has conducted his cyber-sleuthing by remote from a distance of nearly 6,000 miles. “I’ve never even been to Turkey but this technology is giving us the ability almost to conduct an archaeological dig from outer space. I can almost walk around the mountain and analyse the terrain in cyberspace.”

And as Ararat is a restricted military zone where civilian and foreign climbs are rarely allowed, that will remain the only option for such research for the foreseeable future. “Every time there is a quantum leap in the technology, we get better focus and clarity of the ‘Ararat anomaly’,” he said.

In recent years, ever-clearer satellite images have revealed an apparently nautical-shaped oddity almost submerged in a glacier 15,300 ft up the extinct volcano. Prof Taylor hopes that a satellite using radar beams rather than optical technology will picture the area for the first time in April, providing images that will remove the visually confusing effects of shadows and cloud. Also in April, a new satellite with a 16 inch resolution – the most detailed so far – will offer a fresh view of the ‘Ararat anomaly’.

Prof Taylor acknowledges that it would be surprising for a wooden craft to have survived several millennia, even protected by ice; that even a flood of epic proportions would have been unlikely to leave a vessel three miles up a mountainside; and that the anomaly’s dimensions – at 1,015 feet from “bow” to “stern”, it is larger than the Titanic – are extremely implausible for an ancient boat.

Most biblical scholars estimate the Ark to have been about 450 feet long based on measurements in cubits in the Old Testament. But more promisingly, the 6:1 ratio from the Bible for the craft’s length-to-width is reflected in the anomaly shape on Ararat.

Rod McCourt, a former RAF intelligence officer and satellite imagery analyst, has just scrutinised the pictures. “The Anomaly possesses a definite symmetrical shape which is extremely rare in natural features. There is certainly an effect causing the Anomaly to appear like the hull of a very large ship hull but the imagery evidence is inconclusive as to whether or not the “Ararat Anomaly” is a ship or a natural ice formation. Until we are able to see what exactly is under the ice, I cannot eliminate the fact that the Anomaly could be manmade,” Mr McCourt, founder of Global Intel Solutions, which specialises in the burgeoning field of so-called imagery intelligence.

Even sceptics of the Noah’s Ark theory acknowledge that whether the images show an unusual rock formation or even, as some have speculated, another man-made structure such as an old fortified settlement, the rapid progress in satellite technology has made his investigations possible and illuminating.

Is “satellite archaeology” archaeology? If archaeology is a study of remains of the past, satellite archaeology could be classified as a branch of archaeology, even though many archaeologists may disagree.

Archaeologists have been using high-resolution satellite imagery for some years now and it has been very helpful in the study of archaeological sites. In this use of satellite imagery to search for Noah’s Ark the question is: will they find anything on Mount Ararat? My answer remains the same: probably not. However, I will not complain if Professor Taylor can prove me wrong on this issue.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Noah’s Ark, Satellite Archaeology

Homeless for Lent

My student Paul Rollet at Exchanging Hope has written an excellent Lenten mediation. Here is an excerpt:

Prior to laying on the cot the first night, I never understood the full significance of God sending His son Jesus into this world in the form of a man, dwelling among us as a lower-class citizen. You see, God, in all his glory left his throne room in Heaven to come live with us! He had it all - even the richest man in the world cannot come close to having a fraction of the riches God possesses in Heaven - and yet he became poor. He took up residence in a tiny town called Nazareth to experience the mess man had gotten himself into.

Laying in my bed, surrounded by 25 to 75 year old men, men who did not have a home and had to stay in temporary shelters to get out of the cold, I realized why Jesus did what He did. You see, staying at the shelter as a guest put me at a level with the men that I didn't have as a volunteer who after serving go back to my bed in the suburbs. By stepping into their world, they told me things they wouldn't have told me otherwise, and they allowed me more of a chance to minister to them. Jesus did the same thing! By coming to earth in the form of man, He allowed us an opportunity to be in relationship with the God of the universe once again.

Paul is working part-time at the Franciscan Outreach Association on the west side of Chicago, living in a community of volunteers serving at a soup kitchen and at an emergency shelter for the homeless. In an email to the seminary community, Paul wrote:

After a conversation with two friends from seminary two weeks ago, discussing what they and their youth group's were doing for lent, I decided the one thing that would stretch me even more to find Jesus amongst the poor would be to live with them as homeless. So for four days last week I stayed as a guest at the shelter, in order to more fully experience the sacrifice and person of Jesus in the Lenten season.

I invite you to read Paul’s Lenten meditation.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Homeless, Lent, Poor

The Nails on Jesus’ Cross

There is an old song that speak of the three rusty nails that were used to crucify Christ on the cross. The first verse of that hymn begins as follows:

Three Rusted Nails

Two thousand years ago you sent your son
You wanted us to understand
That who so ever would believe in him
Would be safe in his hands

(Chorus)
With three rusty nails and an old dogwood tree
The sacrifice was made for you and me
We were afraid to say that he was the one
What have we done to your son

Now, those three rusty nails that were used to crucify Christ is available for sale on eBay. Anyone interested in having that treasure of antiquity can have it by paying 10,000 euros. Below is a picture of the three rusty nails. However, if you are planning the buy the authentic nails used to crucify Christ, you better hurry up, I believe there are only a few sets left.




HT: Lingamish


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Christ, Cross, Nails

A Jezebel’s Slide Show

The Biblical Archaeology Review is offering “A Jezebel’s Slide Show.”

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Jezebel

Biblical Archaeology Review - March-April 2008 - Free Online

The March-April 2008 issue of the Biblical Archaeology Review is available free on line. The following articles appear in the March-April issue:

“Fit for a Queen: Jezebel's Royal Seal,” by Marjo C. A. Korpel
Does the seal belong to the notorious wicked Phoenician queen Jezebel?

“Emmaus: Where Christ Appeared,” by Hershel Shanks
Excavators at Emmaus-Nicopolis believe they’ve got the right one

“First Publication: A Newly Discovered House Shrine”

“A Temple Built for Two,” by William G. Dever
Intriguing evidence suggests Yahweh shared a throne with Asherah

“Dissecting the Qumran-Essene Hypothesis,” by Edna Ullmann-Margalit
Magnifying glass on the Scroll scholars.

Great articles. Read them and enjoy.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology

The Books of the Old Testament

How do you summarize the books of the Old Testament in a few words? Here is how E. J. Carr did:

In Genesis the world began;
’Twas then that God created man.

In Exodus the law was given,
As Israel’s guide from earth to heaven.

Leviticus, from Levi’s name,
The tribe from which the priesthood came.

Then Numbers tells about the way
What God would have us do and say.

Deuteronomy, which means “twice told,”
The truth, once heard, must ne’er grow old.

Then Joshua came, in Moses’ place,
When Law had failed, God brought in Grace.

He next by Judges Israel ruled;
His love toward them never cooled.

And then, the story sweet of Ruth,
Foreshadows very precious truth.

In Samuel First we read of Saul
The people’s king his rise and fall.

In Second Samuel then we hear
Of David, man to God so dear.

In First of Kings the glory filled
The Temple Solomon did build.

And Second Kings records the lives
Of prophets, kings, their sons and wives.

In First of Chronicles we’re shown
The house of David and his throne.

And Second Chronicles records
King Solomon’s good deeds and words.

Then Ezra builds God’s house again,
Which had for long in ruins lain.

And Nehemiah builds the wall
Round Judah’s city, great and tall.

Then Esther, Jewish maid and wife,
Raised up to save her people’s life.

And Job his patience sorely tried
At last God’s dealings justified.

Then come the Psalms, whose sacred page
Is full of truth for every age.

The Proverbs, which the wise man spake
For all who will their teaching take.

Ecclesiastes shows how vain
The very best of earthly gain.

The Song, how much we need to prize
The treasures set above the skies.

Isaiah, first of prophets, who
Foretells the future of the Jew.

Then Jeremiah scorned by foes,
Yet weeps for faithless Israel’s woes.

The Lamentations tell in part
The sadness of this prophet’s heart.

Ezekiel tells us, in mystic story,
Departing and returning glory.

Then Daniel, from the lion’s den,
By power Divine is raised again.

Hosea shows the Father’s heart
So grieved for sin on Ephraim’s part.

And Joel tells of judgment near;
The wicked nations quake and fear.

Then Amos from the herdmen sent,
Calls hardened sinners to repent.

In Obadiah, Edom’s fall
Contains a warning word to all.

Jonah, though prophet of the Lord,
Yet fled to Tarshish from his word.

Then Micah sings in sweetest lays
The glory of millennial days.

And Nahum tells the fear and gloom
Of Nineveh and of her doom.

Habakkuk — though tho tig-tree fail,
His faith and trust in God prevail.

Then Zephaniah tells of grace,
And love that comes in judgment’s place.

And Haggai in the latter days,
Repeats: “Consider well your ways.”

In Zachariah’s wondrous book,
We find eight visions if we look.

Then Malachi, the last of all,
Speaks sadly still of Israel’s fall.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tag: Old Testament

Jim West Says Goodbye to Blogging (for now, we hope)

In a letter to his friends in the blog world, Jim West said that he will stop publishing his blog.
Jim wrote:

While I appreciate your sentiments, I don't think I'll re-enter the fray. I'll post from time to time on biblioblogs.com and occasionally on moderatebaptists.blogspot.com (both of which are 'group' blogs); and of course I'll remain active on the biblical studies list- but at present I don't imagine I'll launch another private blog. I think I'll just let the vacuum caused by my absence naturally fill with newer, better, and more adorably oriented biblioblogs, and focus on my printed works aimed at church folk.

Read Jim’s letter here.

Jim’s decision to stop blogging is a loss to all of us who depended on him for fresh and relevant information about biblical, theological, and other news related to biblical studies and the church.

Just let us hope that the most prolific blogger among bibliobloggers changes his mind in the future.

We will miss Jim’s insight, humor, and criticisms.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tag: Jim West

Jim West: A Note of Appreciation

News is circulating in the blog world that someone stole Jim West’s password and deleted his blog. This is a despicable act. All of us who blog and interact with Jim through our blogs express our appreciation for Jim’s work.

Jim is one of the few bibliobloggers who has been there from the beginning. Jim is a prolific writer, a blogger who writes on a variety of subjects. At times he disagrees with people and people disagree with him. However, disagreement among bloggers is not a reason for anyone to erase Jim’s blog.

Even though Jim took my blog from his blog roll, I kept his on mine because I have always appreciated his posts, even when I disagreed with some of his posts.

I would like to call on all bibliobloggers to write a note expressing support of Jim and post that note as a demonstration of our appreciation for Jim’s work.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tag: Jim West

The Two Rs

Until a few years ago elementary school students knew that in order to succeed in school they needed to know the three Rs: reading, ʼriting, and ʼrithmetic. Today, with the age of computers and modern technology, the three Rs have almost become irrelevant in modern curriculums.

Not so in academia. Since January, I have been on sabbatical. My sabbatical will continue through the end of summer. During the next several months I need to dedicate as much time as possible to the two Rs: reading and ʼriting in order to finish my sabbatical project.

Several weeks ago, Chris Brady at Targuman proclaimed the month of January 2008 to be Biblical Studies Academic Writing Month. In his proclamation, Chris asked Bibliobloggers and Theobloggers to write an article, a book review, or any material related to the Bible that could be submitted for publication.

The challenge was accepted by Tim Bulkeley at SansBlogue, by Chris Heard at Higgaion, by AKMA at Random Thoughts, by Charles Halton at Awilum, and by others whose names I have not listed here.

During the Biblical Studies Academic Writing Month, I committed myself to the following projects:

1. To write a book review of Mario Liverani’s book, Israel’s History and the History of Israel. London: Equinox, 2003.

2. To write a book review of Ann E. Killebrew’s book, Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, and Early Israel 1300-1100 B.C.E. Leiden: Brill, 2005.

3. To complete an article on Asa, King of Judah.

I am glad to say that I finished my three projects by the end of January. All three projects have already been submitted for publication.

In addition, during the month of February I will finish two more book reviews and four small articles that will be published in an encyclopedia of Christian scholars. My assignments are to write a short biography on Julius Wellhausen, William F. Albright, Walter Brueggemann, and Norman K. Gottwald. I am almost finished with the four biographies and with the book reviews.

All this work means that my time for blogging will be very limited during my sabbatical. My commitment to my academic work must take precedence over extra-curricular activities such as blogging. For this reason, my blogging for the next several weeks will be sporadic. As the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes said: “There’s no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for anything else” (Ecclesiastes 12:12 Msg).

So, for the next several weeks I will not be “good for anything else” except R&R: reading and ʼriting and probably, most of my blogging will be related to what I am reading and writing. In addition, I may not be able to post every day. So, be patient with me. I love blogging and I enjoy the contact with readers.

As I said before, I will say again: “I’ll be back.”

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Blogging, Sabbatical

The Right to Live and the Right to Die

In response to my post “A Case of Life and Death,” Doug Chaplin at MetaCatholic wrote a post in which he disagrees with my conclusions on the issue of termination of life. I want to return to this issue since it is a problem that affects many people, primarily those who are in ministry.

First of all, I want to apologize to Doug for my delay in responding to his post. Since January I have been on sabbatical and immersed in reading and researching for a book I hope to finish writing by the end of August. For this reason I have limited the time I dedicate to blogging. I will mostly work on weekends and try to post as often as time allows.

In reality, Doug and I are not too far apart on this issue. I agree with Doug that hospitals and doctors have the right to decide that no more treatment should be offered to a patient when all treatments have failed and when the situation is terminal. In the case of the patient mentioned in the story, the situation seems to be terminal and no further treatment is possible.

The issue I raised in my post is who has the right to terminate life, the doctors or the family? In the article I cited in my post, it is clear that Rosenblum, the writer of the article, is writing from a perspective of one who opposes termination of life by doctors. Thus, his article is “written tendentiously” because the writer takes the side of the family against the doctors’ decision.

Let me illustrate the issue I am raising by using abortion as an example. By using abortion as an example I am not discussing the merits of abortion, whether I am in favor or against abortion or whether abortion is right or wrong. Rather, I use abortion as an example because it is related to the issue at hand, the right to live and the right to die.

In cases of abortion, it is the patient who decides whether the fetus lives or dies. Once the woman makes a decision to have or not to have an abortion, she decides whether the fetus lives or dies. I do not know what the law in the UK is regarding abortion, but here in the US, a minor can decide to have an abortion even without her parent’s consent. In this case, it is the individual, not the doctors and not the parents, who decides the right to live and the right to die.

In the case of the patient in Canada, an Orthodox Jew who believes that it is wrong to take “any action designed to shorten life,” the doctors should honor the family’s request and not take matters into their own hands and decide to remove the machines that keep the man alive, because their decision goes against the family’s and the patient’s wishes. I believe that it should be the family’s right to make the decision when their loved one will die, not the doctors.

Personally, I do not want my life to be prolonged by artificial means. Although I believe that every life is important and precious, I also believe that to prologue life artificially may not be what God intended for his creatures, primarily when it is clear that normal life has come to an end.

As Doug wrote, science and technology have created a modern phenomenon that was not known a century ago. With better diagnoses, better medicines, and better treatment life can be prolonged beyond normal expectations. There was an old saying that pneumonia was the elderly’s best friend, because when the elderly became seriously ill, pneumonia would hasten death and shorten the time of suffering. Today the elderly takes a pneumonia shot to avoid pneumonia and the machines keeps a patient living longer and thus prolonging the time of suffering.

There must be a better way and I am quite sure it is already being practiced in some places. To say that doctors have “the sole right to make decisions about treatment, even if it goes against a patient’s religious beliefs” is insensitive and, from my perspective, wrong. Look at all the agony that the Terri Schiavo case caused a few years ago.

Here is what I would like to see happen:

1. Hospitals should have a written policy about termination of life in case no further treatment can be offered to a dying patient. The policy should clearly state that treatment will cease when no further treatment is available.

2. The family and the patient (if able) should be informed of the policy and be clear that no further treatment will be offered when the case becomes terminal.

3. The patient would be admitted with the understanding that there will be no further treatment when the case becomes terminal. In case the family or the patient refuses to sign the release form, the patient and the family would be free to look for another hospital that will be willing to prolong the life of the patient through artificial means.

I do not think a hospital would adopt such a policy for fear of litigation. Thus, it becomes very important for the hospital to communicate to patients and to family members their policy about termination of life before a patient is admitted. This way, the family will have a clear understanding about what will happen in case of terminal condition.

In the case of the elderly Jewish man, it is already too late to apply such a policy. For this reason, I believe the doctors should not remove the machines because the family opposes and because the man will surely die. The hospital should transfer the patient to another hospital which will allow the man to die in peace. Instead, they made the decision to cease treatment, remove the machines, and allow the man to die. By taking matters into their own hands, the doctors take upon themselves the right to make the decision, against the family wishes, that a man should die. To me, that is wrong.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Abotion, Death, Life, Terri Schiavo

The Southern Baptist Convention and Ethnic Minorities

The Washington Post has an excellent article on the efforts of the Southern Baptist Convention to reach ethnic minorities. The following is an excerpt from the article:

But of all the denominations seeking to diversify, many agree that the Southern Baptist Convention -- an association of about 40,000 congregations that make up the nation's largest Protestant denomination -- has the farthest to travel.

From its 1845 birth in Georgia as a haven for white Baptists who supported slavery, the SBC has had troubled relations with African Americans. For 150 years, by its own admission, it was hostile to black progress, often speaking in favor of Jim Crow laws.

But in 1995, the Southern Baptists did an about-face, issuing a public apology for their history of bigotry and vowing to "eradicate racism in all its forms" from its ranks.

These days, the faith that was once proudly white now touts the fact that almost 20 percent of its congregations are predominantly black, Latino or Asian. Hundreds of minorities serve in leadership posts in its state conventions, seminaries and other organizations.

The SBC Mission Board estimates that the number of black members has doubled to about 1 million since the 1995 apology.

The article also says:

By establishing churches in minority communities, changing worship practices, electing minorities to leadership positions and purging racism from their language and attitudes, the faiths are seeking to draw in communities of color as a way to boost stagnating or falling membership.

This article reminds me of my own work with the Southern Baptist Convention. In 1967, when the Southern Convention met in Houston, Texas, I made a motion on the floor of the convention asking the convention to elect minorities to leadership position in the convention and to all of the boards and committees of the convention.

At that time I was serving as the pastor of a Hispanic church in California; later I worked for the Home Mission Board as a missionary among the Portuguese and Brazilians in the San Francisco Bay Area. My motion failed but the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention decided to study the request.

Over the years the Southern Baptist Convention has changed and more ethnic churches have been established and, as a result, more leaders are coming out of these churches to lead Southern Baptist churches and participate more fully in the life of the Southern Baptist Convention. I think it took the Southern Baptist Convention a few years to realize that anyone, including minorities, can function as a leader in God’s Kingdom.


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Ethnic Churches, Minorities, Southern Baptists

The City of David: Politics and Archaeology

People familiar with excavations in Jerusalem know of the controversy that has arisen with the involvement of the Elad Foundation in sponsoring archaeologists in excavating the city in order to recover “the remnants of a glorious Jewish past.”

A recent article on the controversy reveals how politics, religion, and archeology influence excavations in Jerusalem. The following is an excerpt from the article:

Doron Spielman, the Elad Foundation’s international director of development said, “We do not deny we have a Zionist dream -- to reveal the ancient city beneath the ground and create a thriving Jewish neighborhood above the ground.”

More than 160 feet under Silwan on a recent afternoon, a visitor walked for half an hour in darkness and knee-deep water through Hezekiah’s tunnel, the stillness disturbed only by a party of South American tourists bellowing the theme song from the “Indiana Jones” movies.

The Old Testament books of Kings and Chronicles recount the tunnel’s origins: Hezekiah, king of Judea, dug it to channel water inside the city walls ahead of a siege by Assyrian armies.

Measuring 1,750 feet long -- about a third of a mile -- the tunnel was dug around 700 B.C. by two teams that started from each end and met in the middle, an engineering feat brought to life by their chisel marks, still visible on the walls, and recounted in an inscription they mounted on the wall.

“The City of David shows us the history and archaeology of Jerusalem since the day it was founded. Jerusalem's foundations are here,” said archaeologist Eli Shukrun, standing near the entrance to another tunnel -- a long, dank-smelling Roman-era sewer through which Jews fled Jerusalem as it was torched by Rome's legions in 70 A.D.

The sewer ran beneath a road that led up to the Second Temple, the center of the Jewish faith, destroyed in the same Roman assault.

Roni Reich of Haifa University, another City of David archaeologist, gives voice to the history pulsing through Jerusalem, reeling off the names of history’s giants associated with the city -- David, Jesus, the Roman Emperor Constantine, the Muslim ruler Saladin.

“It's hard to list another city similar to this one,” he said.”"And this hill is where it all started.”

The dig regularly yields important and colorful finds such as 2,500-year-old pins used to hold robes closed, and seals stamped with the names of Yehochal ben Shlemiyahu and Gemaryahu ben Shafan, two figures mentioned in the biblical book of Jeremiah.

Archaeologists not connected to the City of David digs don’t dispute their importance.

Amihai Mazar, a professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said the site has already revealed important details of Jerusalem's history. He mentioned the discovery of massive Canaanite fo.jpgications 3,700 years old and of thousands of fish bones indicating the diet favored in this landlocked city on the desert’s edge.

“This site doesn’t stop surprising us,” Mazar said.

The archaeologists at the site say their work has nothing to do with politics. But others charge their colleagues with complicity in Elad's agenda of moving Jews to the Arab neighborhood.

The City of David dig”"is connected by its umbilical cord to politics,” said Rafi Greenberg, an Israeli archaeologist from Tel Aviv University who dug at the site in the 1970s and 1980s, before Elad was involved.

“No amount of dealing with ceramics and rocks can obscure the fact that the work is being done to establish facts in the present,” he said. He rejected his colleagues’ claim to academic neutrality, saying:”"They are being compensated for their cooperation with findings and money.”

Reich said the people paying for the dig haven’t interfered in his work. “I can divide the political from the archaeological,” he said.”"The people from Elad have never affected our archaeological judgment.”

When politics and archeology join hands to recover “the remnants of a glorious Jewish past,” the results can lead to conclusions that may not reflect the realities of the past. Archaeologists cannot allow donors to influence how the past is interpreted. The danger is that money and politics can become the prism by which archaeologists look at the past. Let us hope that this does not happens in the excavations of the City of David.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Jerusalem

The Bible and Pre-Adamic Man

Jay D. Homnick, in an article published in The Jewish Press discusses the biblical and Talmudic views of Creation. In his article Homnick deals with how the Talmud views and interprets God’s act of creation in Genesis 1 and 2. He also discusses the reluctance some people today have dealing with people such as Darwin and Dawkins and “their contention that the processes of natural development could have occurred without being set in motion and/or guided by a supreme Creator.”

In his article, Homnick also discusses how the Bible and the Talmud deals with the issue of prehistoric man. Interpreting passages such as Psalm 105:8 and 1 Chronicles 16:15, the Talmud says that there were 974 generations of prehistoric man that existed before Adam.

The following is an excerpt of Homnick’s article:

As startling as this approach must have been to the assumed orthodoxies in other religions and secular systems, nothing can compare in bombshell status to the biblically hinted, and Talmudically expounded, notion of prehistoric man.

The Talmud in Shabbos (88b) indicates there were 974 generations of prehistoric man. In Chagiga (13b) the Talmud sounds more like those generations were never actualized. The Midrash Rabba (Genesis 28) says they were wiped out.

While it remains somewhat unclear exactly what these 974 generations represent, this seems to be a matter of prime importance that is stressed in two verses (Psalms 105:8, Chronicles I 16:15). These verses point out that the Torah was given to the thousandth generation, which is explained by the Midrash to mean the 974 prehistoric generations plus the 26 from Adam until Moses.

Apparently, this highlights the high level of Torah – that it took a thousand stages in the creation of man, stages designated as “generations,” before man could receive such exalted wisdom.

The Jews traveled through history for millennia studying the Talmud and Midrash, comfortable with a unique concept of prehistoric man, a concept that gave that creature (or idea) a 974:26 edge in pre-biblical generations.

If geology and archaeology have indeed yielded specimens that are indisputably prehistoric men (I am not expert enough to be certain of this), they are substantiating one of the most mysterious parts of the Jewish intellectual tradition.

Personally, I do not believe that Psalm 105:8 is talking about prehistoric man. What amazes me is that many years before Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species and Richard Dawkins published his book The God Delusion, Jewish scholars were talking about prehistoric creatures that existed before Adam. What is also amazing is that they did not see the idea of the existence of pre-Adamic man as a threat to their faith.

Is there a lesson in the Talmud for twenty-first century Christians?

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Adam, Creation, Darwin, Dawkins, Evolution, Prehistoric Man, Talmud

My Favorite Archaeologist

Here is the trailer for the new Indiana Jones movie, "Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."










Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Indiana Jones, Kingdom Crystal Skull

A Commentary on the Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet

Last year, I wrote an article on the Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet. The discovery of the tablet produced a large amount of discussion among bibliobloggers. Now, Henry Stadhouders, from Utrecht University, has written an article in which he provides a transliteration and a translation of the Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet with a commentary on the tablet.

The article is titled:

"The Nebu(!)sarsekim Tablet
BM 114789 (1920-12-13, 81)
Some Provisional Remarks"
by Henry Stadhouders - Utrecht University

The following is the abstract of the article:

During the summer of 2007 an internet hype was unleashed by the breaking news that an Old Testament name of some importance, figuring in the Book of Jeremiah Ch. 39, had been positively identified on a cuneiform clay tablet, viz. a bill of receipt from the time of this prophet's floruit. Many a scholar of sorts was quick to claim that by this tiny piece of extra-scriptural evidence the Bible was proven to be historically reliable. Others did not relish this type of enthusiasm, or even dismissed the whole thing as a mere name detached from any historical context. So far, the debate has been missing a sound base, however, in that it had to fully rely on a provisional translation by the tablet's discoverer. In order for discussions to be based on firmer ground a transliteration of the document is offered here, along with a translation and some remarks putting things into context in a provisional way.

The article is available online on PDF format by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Bible Criticism, Chief Eunuch, Rab-sarîs, Jeremiah 39:3, Nabû-sharrussu-ukin, Nebo-Sarsekim, Nebosarsekim, Nebusarsekim

The Black Pharaohs of Egypt

The feature article for the February 2008 issue of the National Geographic Magazine is on the black pharaohs of Egypt. The following is an excerpt from the article:

In the year 730 B.C., a man by the name of Piye decided the only way to save Egypt from itself was to invade it. Things would get bloody before the salvation came.

“Harness the best steeds of your stable,” he ordered his commanders. The magnificent civilization that had built the great pyramids had lost its way, torn apart by petty warlords. For two decades Piye had ruled over his own kingdom in Nubia, a swath of Africa located mostly in present-day Sudan. But he considered himself the true ruler of Egypt as well, the rightful heir to the spiritual traditions practiced by pharaohs such as Ramses II and Thutmose III. Since Piye had probably never actually visited Lower Egypt, some did not take his boast seriously. Now Piye would witness the subjugation of decadent Egypt firsthand—“I shall let Lower Egypt taste the taste of my fingers,” he would later write.

When Piye died at the end of his 35-year reign in 715 B.C., his subjects honored his wishes by burying him in an Egyptian-style pyramid, with four of his beloved horses nearby. He was the first pharaoh to receive such entombment in more than 500 years. A pity, then, that the great Nubian who accomplished these feats is literally faceless to us. Images of Piye on the elaborate granite slabs, or stelae, memorializing his conquest of Egypt have long since been chiseled away. On a relief in the temple at the Nubian capital of Napata, only Piye’s legs remain. We are left with a single physical detail of the man—namely, that his skin was dark.

This is an excellent article. The National Geographic Magazine always excels in providing accurate and relevant information about archaeological, anthropological, and other scientific issues. To read the article, visit the web page of the National Geographic Magazine by clicking here.

Credit for picture: National Geographic Magazine

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Black Pharaoh, Egypt, Nubia, Piye, Pharaoh

Reflections on the Ministry

In March 2008, I will be celebrating my forty-fifth year in the ministry. These forty-five years of service to God have been a journey through good times and difficult times. During this long journey, I have experienced times of joy and happiness and times of trials and testing. However, if I had to begin again, if I had to do it all over again, I would do it without one moment of hesitation.

The celebration of this important time in my life and in my ministry has led me to reflect on the life of ministry. It is only when one looks back at the highs and lows of a minister’s life that one begins to realize some important aspects of the ministry that, at least to me, are essential to who one is and to what one does. In this post, I want to list the most essential aspect of the ministry, that to me is non-negotiable, and that is the call to the ministry.

I believe the life of ministry is based on a divine call. The ministry is not a profession, a job like any other ordinary job. The ministry requires a call from God because the minister will be involved in doing the work of God. A successful minister will be conscious of the divine call and will delight and love being in the service of God.

Today, there are some people who are in the ministry for the wrong reasons. Some people believe that the ministry is a profession, a way of earning a living. I remember reading once about a famous minister who said about his ministry: “I tried to be a lawyer but I failed. I tried to be a teacher but I failed. I tried to be a tailor and I failed, so, there was nothing left for me to do except the ministry.” This is the wrong reason to be in the ministry.

Others enter the ministry because they see the ministry as an easy life. This is what a young man told me during an interview here at the seminary. I asked him: “Why do you want to come to seminary?” His answer was indicative of what many people think about the ministry. He said: “I want to become a pastor because pastors only work one day a week.” That young man wanted to become a minister as a result of a wrong perception about what ministers do. Here was an individual who had decided to enter the ministry but God was not the primary motive behind his decision.

I believe that whenever anyone chooses to enter the ministry as a vocation, that person must be sure that the decision has been motivated by a divine call, a call from God. As Paul wrote: “Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it” (1 Corinthians 9:16 NLT). One is compelled by God to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. Preaching the gospel comes because the divine summons reverberates deeply through the innermost being of person, summoning that person to work for God.

To many people in the twenty-first century, the call of God is hard to understand. No one can explain to another person the full aspect of the divine call; each call is distinctive and original. We see this throughout the Bible. Amos was a shepherd taking care of his flock. Amos wrote that one day the Lord called him away from his flock and told him: “Go and prophesy to my people in Israel” (Amos 7:15). So, Amos became a prophet. What else could Amos do: “The lion has roared-- so who isn’t frightened? The Lord has spoken-- so who can refuse to proclaim his message?” (Amos 3:8).

The call of Isaiah was different. One day when Isaiah was worshiping in the temple he had a vision of God sitting on his throne. That experience of the holy brought him into the very presence of God and he heard a call to service: “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” And Isaiah said: “Here I am. Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). The summons of God spoke to the heart and conscience of Isaiah and at that moment Isaiah discovered his vocation and destiny.

Two different people, two different calls. One was summoned and the other volunteered but both were sent by God with a mission and a message. The same could be said of the calls of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and all other prophets in the Old Testament. Each call is original and each call comes through individuals in unique circumstances but to one and all, the call of God comes as a divine constraint. Each situation may be different and each call may be unique, but in the end the call is one and the same: it is a call to preach the word of God.

This is another characteristic to the ministry that sets it apart from other vocations. In Romans 10: 15 Paul said: “And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” The call to the ministry includes a mysterious sense of commission, that is, that one is being sent by the eternal God with a mission and a message. The assurance that one is sent must be an essential aspect of the ministry.

In the Old Testament there were many people who went without being sent. These people are called “false prophets.” And these people were rebuked by God because they did not speak on behalf of God.

The Lord said about those people who went without being sent: “I have not sent these prophets, yet they run around claiming to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they go on prophesying” (Jeremiah 23:21). Christian ministry is based on the conviction that one is sent by Christ: “As the Father sent me, so am I sending you” (John 20:21). Jesus told his disciples: “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves” (Matthew 10:16).

Those who are called to the ministry labor under a sacred trust imposed upon them. Those who are sent by God are sent to lead men and women, young and old, to the ways of Christ. Ministers are called by God to a transformative ministry, the kind of ministry that will challenge men and women to accept things that really matter and to abandon those things that hold them captive. The gospel of Jesus Christ transforms the life of people. It brings them from night to day, from darkness to light, from death to life.

Such is the life of ministry; it is a sacred and glorious calling that one receives from a holy God. It is a calling that brings an awesome responsibility. So, today I pause and think about that day, forty-five years ago, when I began the journey of the ministry. Was it worth it? In answer to this question I think about the people who came to faith in Christ through my ministry, I think about the lives that were changed, the marriages that were restored, I think about those who abandoned lives of crime, drugs, alcohol, and many other vices to follow Jesus. Yes, I have to say that it was worth traveling this road, the road of the ministry. I have to say with a loud voice that it has been a glorious journey, a blessed forty-five years.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Call to Preach, Ministry, Pastorate

Polygamy and the British Government

In light of the statement made by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in which he favors applying Sharia law to some civil cases in British society, one must read a statement published in the Jewish World Review about the "Tax Credits (Polygamous Marriages) Regulations 2003":

"Culminating several years of evolution, the British government now recognizes polygamous marriages. It changed the rules in the "Tax Credits (Polygamous Marriages) Regulations 2003": previously, only one wife could inherit assets tax-free from a deceased husband; this legislation permits multiple wives to
inherit tax-free, so long as the marriage had been contracted where polygamy is legal, as in Nigeria, Pakistan, or India. In a related matter, the Department for Work and Pensions began issuing extra payments to harems for such benefits as jobseeker allowances, housing subventions, and council tax relief. Last week came news that, after a year-long review, four government departments (Work and Pensions, Treasury, Revenue and Customs, Home Office) concluded that formal recognition of polygamy is "the
best possible" option for Her Majesty's Government.

British society many not approve polygamy, but the government’s formal recognition of polygamy may indicate that approval for one group may lead to approval for all. There are several groups here in the USA who are advocating the legitimation of polygamy. I just hope they don’t look to the British government for inspiration.


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Marriage, Polygamy

A Case of Life and Death

Here is an issue that should concern all of us: in case of a terminal illness, who should have the power to decide when life should end: the doctor or the family? A case in Canada is raising this question all over again. Here is a summary of the case as reported by Jonathan Rosenblum in the Jewish World Review:

A Winnipeg case currently winding its way to its grim conclusion pits the children of Samuel Golubchuk against doctors at the Salvation Army Grace General Hospital. According to the leadings, Golubchuk's doctors informed his children that their 84-year-old father is "in the process of dying" and that they intended to hasten the process by removing his ventilation, and if that proved insufficient to kill him quickly, to also remove his feeding tube. In the event that the patient showed discomfort during these procedures, the chief of the hospital's ICU unit stated in his affidavit that he would administer morphine.

Golubchuk is an Orthodox Jew, as are his children. The latter have adamantly opposed his removal from the ventilator and feeding tube, on the grounds that Jewish law expressly forbids any action designed to shorten life, and that if their father could express his wishes, he would oppose the doctors acting to deliberately terminate his life.

In response, the director of the ICU informed Golubchuk's children that neither their father's wishes nor their own are relevant, and he would do whatever he decided was appropriate. Bill Olson, counsel for the ICU director, told the Canadian Broadcasting Company that physicians have the sole right to make decisions about treatment — even if it goes against a patient's religious beliefs — and that "there is no right to a continuation of treatment."

This story is alarming because the position taken by the hospital gives doctors total power to make the decision to withdraw life-support from a patient. The position taken by the hospital also removes from patients the ability to make end-of-life decisions. In cases like this one, what will happen to living wills, the power given to individuals to declare in writing who should make the decision to terminate life in the event of a person’s incapacity to make such a decision?

I agree with Rosenblum when he said that to give doctors absolute power to decide when to terminate life is "an assault on the traditional Judeo-Christian concept of the sanctity of life." Human beings are created in the image and likeness of God and each life is precious and important. Doctors should not be the only ones to decide when life should be terminated. The patient and their families should have a say in the matter.

Credit for Image: Jewish World Review

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Death, Living Wills, Terminal Illness

Author of Peer-Reviewed Creationist Paper Seeks Retraction

A paper espousing creationism and published in Proteomics, a peer-reviewed biology journal, contains more than 200 instances of plagiarism. Now, one of the paper’s authors, Jin Han, of Inje University in South Korea, is asking the editor of Proteomics that the paper be retracted.

The plagiarized paper was discussed by Paul Z. Myers’s blog, Pharyngula. Myers is Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Minnesota at Morris. Myers called the paper “a baffling failure of peer review.” Since the post was published, Meyer has received more than 238 comments about the plagiarized paper.

HT: The Chronicle of Higher Education

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Creationism, Plagiarism

David and Goliath as Metaphors

The Wikipedia defines a metaphor as follows:

Metaphor (from the Greek: metapherin) is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. In the simplest case, this takes the form: "The [first subject] is a [second subject]." More generally, a metaphor is a rhetorical trope that describes a first subject as being or equal to a second subject in some way.

Then, the same article describes a mixed metaphor as follows:

A mixed metaphor is one that leaps from one identification to a second identification that is inconsistent with the first one. Example: "He stepped up to the plate and grabbed the bull by the horns," where two commonly used metaphoric grounds for highlighting the concept of "taking action" are confused to create a nonsensical image.

Some times people use the language of the Old Testament in speeches to illustrate what they are trying to communicate to a group of people. Once in a while, people use the language of the Old Testament in a way that creates mixed metaphors. Take for example, the case of Mayor Dennis Donohue of Salinas, California, a city in which I lived for three years. Speaking to a group of people at their annual faith community luncheon, the Mayor told those attending the luncheon “that he sees the city as David from the Old Testament, up against the Goliath of gangs and other challenges.”

I think this is a good example of a mixed metaphor. David and Goliath are people while the city is a political entity and gangs are a group of individuals. I am quite sure the Mayor’s illustration described to his audience the great challenge the city is facing, however, in my view, he used two items that are equals (two individuals) to illustrate two items that are not equal (a city and a group of people).

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: David, Goliath, Metaphors

Of Wars, Vines, and Fig Trees

The combined image of the “vine and fig tree” appears several times in the Old Testament. The following are some the passages where vine and fig tree appear together:

“During Solomon's lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree” (1 Kings 4:25).

“Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern” (2 Kings 18:31. The same verse also appears in Isaiah 36:16).

“Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken” (Micah 4:4-5).

There are a few other verses where the two ideas appear together. In the Old Testament the vineyard and the fig tree were two basic elements of the economy of ancient Israel and their absence indicates times of calamity and distress. Thus, to sit under one’s vine and fig tree symbolizes a time of peace and prosperity.

The idea of sitting under one’s vine and fig tree also symbolizes the freedom people had in cultivating the land of promise God had given to Israel as their inheritance. It symbolizes the enjoyment of the blessings and the prosperity God has bestowed upon his people.

This is what Michael Hammond was trying to communicate when he wrote:

U.S. policy and influence in the past has, for better and for worse, helped to shape our current state of affairs. We can't completely wash our hands of some role in the precarious world we live in today. There is a great verse in the Old Testament that speaks of a world where each shall sit under his own vine, under his own fig tree, making war no more. Most biblical scholars seem to agree that what God means to illustrate in that text is a freedom from want. For me it means having a piece of something. A sense of ownership. A stake in how life plays out and all of the peace and joy that goes along with it when our lives have that sense of relevance. Take that away and children strap bombs to themselves because they've been convinced that life in this world has nothing to offer. Adults fly planes into buildings. Through our own actions we can help feed a sense of hopelessness, or a sense of hope. Accountability for the loss of life cuts both ways. If you put a gun in my face, terror is terror, it seems to me, regardless of what patch you're wearing on your sleeve.

However, when he said: “There is a great verse in the Old Testament that speaks of a world where each shall sit under his own vine, under his own fig tree, making war no more,” he was combining two verses from the prophet Micah:

“Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken” (Micah 4:4-5).

“And he will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Micah 4:3).

What Micah was saying is that war is a learned behavior. People have to be taught how to fight wars; soldiers have to be trained for combat and as long as military schools teach people how to fight wars, wars will be fought.

Micah’s view of this idyllic time when wars would come to an end is reversed by the prophet Joel in his description of the apocalyptic war that precedes the Day of the Lord:

“Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, 'I am strong” (Joel 3:10).

Joel was saying that before the people of Judah can sit under their vine and fig tree, there must be the final judgment on the nations. When the armies gather in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, there will be the war to end all wars and the enemies of Israel will be destroyed. In preparation for that final war, the implements of peace will become implements of war. When the war is ended then the people of Israel will sit under their vine and their fig tree and no one will be taught how to fight wars and no soldier will train for combat (Micah 4:3).

But, there is a condition for universal peace to be established and Micah is very clear about the condition: “He, [the Lord] will settle disputes among many peoples and provide arbitration for strong nations that are far away.” Before peace comes, God’s representative must settle disputes among the nations. Then, and only then, nations and people “will beat their swords into plows, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war.”

Until then, we must wait for the Prince of Peace.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Fig Tree, Micah, Peace, Vine, War

Violence Against Women

Joan Smith, reacting to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s statement that sharia courts could rule on family issues in England, said that British women are already suffering because Islamic law. She also said: “Only someone as out of touch with modern Britain as the Archbishop of Canterbury could possibly think otherwise, or line up so willingly with the forces of reaction. Just because someone looks like an Old Testament prophet, he doesn't have to think and speak like one as well.”

In a very eye-opening article, Smith presents several cases of violence against women in England because of religious laws. Because Smith’s argument is important to understand the reason the Archbishop of Canterbury does not speak with prophetic voice, I have reprinted an excerpt of Smith’s article as it appears in The Independent:

There are moments when public debate in Britain appears to take place in a vacuum. As the Archbishop of Canterbury gave a convincing impression yesterday of a man suffering the torments of the Inquisition, the debate was moving away from his actual observations about Islamic law, sharia, to the question of his fitness (or otherwise) to hold his office. Rowan Williams claimed that his remarks about the unavoidability of adopting some aspects of sharia in this country had been misunderstood, prompting an interesting response from his critics: the cleric was a brilliant man, they said, but his utterances were simply too opaque for hoi polloi (especially the media) to comprehend. This prompts an obvious question – if no one understands what the Archbishop is saying, how do they know how intelligent he is? – but it also diverted attention from something much more important. Williams's clarification of his remarks seemed to suggest that he wasn't calling for a parallel legal system for Muslims, more a recognition of something that is already happening. Yet there has been a strange reluctance to ask a real expert who has seen the way sharia operates in this country: someone like Rahni Binjie, project manager of Roshni Asian Women's Aid in Nottingham.

I urge you to read the article in its entirety by clicking here.

After you read the article in its entirety, you will understand the meaning of Smith’s words: “Only someone as out of touch with modern Britain as the Archbishop of Canterbury could possibly think otherwise, or line up so willingly with the forces of reaction. Just because someone looks like an Old Testament prophet, he doesn't have to think and speak like one as well.”

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Abuse, Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, Sharia Law, Women

The Sacred Roman Cave: Not the Lupercale

Kevin P. Edgecomb has left a comment on my post dealing with the ancient Roman cave that many people believe it was the shrine of the Lupercale, the sacred place where according to Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were suckled by a wolf. Kevin left a link to an article in which another Italian archaeologist claims that the cave is not the Lupercale.

The following is an excerpt of the article:

A LEADING Italian archaeologist said that the grotto whose discovery was announced this week in Rome is not the sacred cave linked to the myth of the city's foundation by Romulus and Remus.

The Culture Ministry and experts who presented the find said they were "reasonably certain" the cavern is the Lupercale - a sanctuary worshipped for centuries by Romans because, according to legend, a wolf nursed the twin brothers there.

But Adriano La Regina, Rome's superintendent of archaeology from 1976 to 2004, said ancient descriptions of the place suggest the Lupercale is elsewhere - 50 to 70 metres northwest of the cave discovered near Emperor Augustus' palace.

"I am positive this is not the Lupercale," Mr La Regina told Reuters in an interview.

Instead, he believes the cave - which ministry pictures show is decorated with well-preserved seashells and coloured mosaics - was a room in Nero's first palace on the Palatine Hill, which burnt down in 64 AD in the great fire of Rome.

I want to thank Kevin for the link. The original intent of my post was not to defend the statement that the cave was the Lupercale. Rather, my post asked the question whether archaeology could prove mythology and my answer was that it could not.

The debate on the significance of the cave is important because it allows archaeologists to ascertain the real nature of the cave.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Lupercale

In the News

The following are some of the stories I read this week. These are some of the stories that almost because subjects of a post. However, lack of time did not allow me to blog on them.


Iran envoy defends amputation ‘of the hand that steals’

Iran’s ambassador to Spain has compared chopping off the hands of thieves to a “surgeon amputating a limb to prevent the spread of gangrene.”

Conservative Rabbis to Vote on Resolution Criticizing Pope’s Revision of Prayer

The revision of a contentious Good Friday prayer approved this week by Pope Benedict XVI could set back Jewish-Catholic relations, Conservative Judaism’s international assembly of rabbis says in a resolution to be voted on next week.

The prayer calls for God to enlighten the hearts of Jews “so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men.”

God and Politics

Frank Lambert’s “Religion in American Politics,” published last month, traces the interplay between pulpits and the public square through nearly two centuries of U.S. history. Some things, he writes, never change.

Efforts to proclaim the United States a “Christian nation” date at least to 1827, when Calvinist minister Ezra Stiles Ely tried to mobilize a “Christian party in politics” to fight the delivery of mail on Sundays.

The Book of Mormon and Archaeology

Because of many false statements disseminated by members of the LDS Church, such as the one cited above, the Smithsonian Institute was forced to publish a statement concerning these matters. The 1986 statement begins with a denial of the claims put forth by Mormon enthusiasts:

“The Smithsonian Institution has never used the Book of Mormon in any way as a scientific guide. Smithsonian archeologists see no direct connection between the archeology of the New World and the subject matter of the book.” (“Statement Regarding The Book of Mormon.” Smithsonian Institute, Spring 1986).

Enjoy reading.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, God, Islam, Mormons, Politics, Pope

Sex in the City of God

“Sex in the City of God”: This was the title of a series of Old Testament sermons preached at Liberty University.

The title of the series is related to love stories in the Old Testament.

I am glad they are talking about sex at Liberty University, however, the title of the series is designed to titillate students to attend the lectures.

HT: Chad

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Liberty University, Sex

The Royal Goddesses of Ebla

Archaeology has an article detailing the latest discovery at Ebla, the Bronze Age city located in northern Syria. Among the most recent discoveries, archaeologists found a cuneiform tablet detailing the weapons the leaders of Ebla gave to their allies during a war fought against a common enemy (possibly Mari) circa 2300 B.C.

Archaeologist Paolo Matthiae and his team also found two figurines “that confirm textual evidence for a royal cult of the dead focused on the city’s queens.” Concerning the two figurines, the article says:

Both figurines are intricate representations of women, which are rare in Near Eastern Bronze Age art. One, made of steatite and wood, is depicted with her arms arranged in a gesture indicating prayer. The second figurine holds a goblet and wears an ornate gold dress. Both seem to have been used in a ritual mentioned in a tablet from Ebla that describes how the city’s dead queens became female deities who were then worshiped privately by their successors. Matthiae suspects the steatite figure depicts a living queen who would have prayed to the gold-covered figurine, itself a representation of a dead queen who had become a goddess.

The discovered of the city of Ebla thirty years ago caused a lot of excitement in the archaeological world. That excitement still continues today with these new findings.

Read the article in Archaeology by clicking here. See an enlarged picture of the figurines by clicking here.

HT: Duane Smith

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Ebla, Goddess, Paolo Matthiae

N. T. Wright’s View of Heaven

N. T. Wright, Jim West’s favorite theologian, said in an interview with Time that the common view of heaven held by most Christians is a “distortion and serious diminution of Christian hope.”

Quoting John Polkinghorne, Wright said that at the resurrection, “God will download our software into his hardware until the time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselves.”

Very profound!

Read Wright’s interview with Time by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Heaven, Hell, N.T. Wright, Resurrection

The New Testament, Politics, and the Bibliobloggers

Airton José da Silva in his blog Observatório Bíblico introduces the theme of Chapter 2, Part I of J. G. Crossley’s book, Jesus in an Age of Terror: New Testament Projects for a New American Century. London: Equinox Publishing, 2009, 256 p. - ISBN 9781845534295 (Hardback) 9781845534301 (Paperback):

Part One will look at the ways in which New Testament and Christian origins scholarship has historically been influenced by its political and social settings over the past hundred years or so. Moving on to the present, the following chapter will then apply [Edward] Herman and [Noam] Chomsky's propaganda model of manufacturing consent in the mass media to the recent explosion of biblical scholars writing on the internet, in particularly `biblio-bloggers'. It is clear that political views in `biblio-blogging' conform strikingly to the emphases that come through in Herman and Chomsky's analysis of the mass media and intellectuals, particularly with the standard lines on the `war on terror' and views on the contemporary Middle East [the emphasis belongs to Airton].

I thank Airton for allowing me to copy his post here.

There are two interesting factors in Crossley’s words:

First, bibliobloggers have made an impact on biblical studies and that impact is being reflected in the way biblical scholars are taking into consideration what bibliobloggers have produced.

Second, that there is a “political view” that influences what bibliobloggers write.

Those who write on biblical themes may have a theological or ideological presupposition that guides their scholarship, but to my knowledge (and here I may be wrong), I do not think that a political view motivates bibliobloggers to post their works on the Internet or that politics influence what bibliobloggers post on their blogs.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Bibliobloggers, New Testament, Politics

Can Archaeology Prove Mythology?

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient Roman cave that has led many people to believe that the cave is the shrine of the Lupercale, the sacred place where according to Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were suckled by a wolf.

The picture above shows the underground grotto believed to be the sacred place where the wolf nursed Romulus and his twin brother Remus.

The discovery has generated heated debate among archaeologists. According to the news report published in USA Today,

Archaeologist Andrea Carandini of Rome's La Sapienza University calls the finding “one of the greatest discoveries ever made” and says the chances are “minimal” that the cave is not the site revered by the Romans as the Lupercale. Carandini and others point to discoveries such as the cave and earlier findings of ancient structures as evidence that myths about the city's founding reflect history, and say that the founder of Rome may actually have been named Romulus.

On the other hand, T.P. Wiseman, of the University of Exeter in England, said that “Archaeology by its nature can’t provide such evidence.” In addition, Christopher Smith, a historian at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland said that “even if artifacts clearly reference the Romulus and Remus story, all they will show is that the cavern is a place where first-century Romans celebrated the legend — not that the story is real.”

So, the question is: can archaeology prove mythology? The answer is “no.” However, if the myth is based on history, then archaeology can demonstrate the historical foundation for the myth. Take for instance, a book edited by Raymond-Jean Frontain, The David Myth in Western Literature (West Lafayette: Purdue Research Foundation, 1980), a book in which David is presented as a mythical figure in Jewish literature. For many scholars, the biblical David was a figure of legend because his name did not appear anywhere outside the Bible.

Then, in 1993 archaeologists excavating at Tel Dan discovered “The House of David Stela,” A monument erected by an Aramean king which contains the reading “house of David.” In addition, some epigraphers have proposed that the phrase “house of David” also appears in the Mesha Stele.

Archaeology cannot prove mythology and it cannot prove the theological claims of the Bible. Although archaeology cannot yet demonstrate that David and Solomon ruled over a large empire, archaeology has shown that “the mythical David” was not a myth. To the contrary, the Tel Dan Stela reveals that David existed and that his descendants were known as “The House of David.”

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, David, Lupercale, Mythology, Tel Dan

The Old Testament of the Piano Repertoire

A test for music lovers: Do you know which musical composition is called “The Old Testament of the Piano Repertoire”? I did not know until I read it here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Music, Piano Repertoire

A Stone Relief Dedicated to the God Shuda

Newsweek is reporting that as a result of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq and the ease of violence, Iraqi archaeologists have began rescue excavations at eleven key historical sites in Iraq. As a result of these excavations, archaeologists have found a stone relief dedicated to the god Shuda, a deity that was unknown to scholars.

Read the news report of the restoration of the Baghdad museum by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Baghdad Museum, God Shuda,

Archaeology and Politics

Raphael Greenberg, writing in the Jewish Quarterly, 208 (Winter 2007), has written an excellent article in which he deals with the history of excavation in Jerusalem and how politics have influenced excavation in the city. He begins his article with the following words:

Any intellectual practice in Israel entails both the representation of politics and the politics of representation. The ideological implications of practising archaeology in Jerusalem are as many-layered as the cultures that lie buried beneath the city's surface. Archaeology has always been implicated in the conflict of claims to the contested land but now archaeologists find themselves increasingly in the pay of right-wing settler groups, who use their finds to write their own particular version of history.

His article begins discussing the first archaeological conference in Jerusalem following the Six-Day War. This conference, which was held in October 1967, brought together Yigael Yadin, Benjamin Mazar, and Nahman Avigad. The aim of the conference was to discuss the possibility of large-scale excavation of Jerusalem by Israeli archaeologists.

Greenberg’s article details how archaeology was influenced by politicians and religious leaders to affirm the Jewishness of Jerusalem. Greenberg wrote:

The history of Israeli-Palestinian relations in Jerusalem reached a remarkable turning point in 1992-3. The electoral success of Yitzhak Rabin and the Labor Party paved the way to the 1993 Oslo accords, yet the election of Ehud Olmert as mayor of Jerusalem a few months later signaled the victory of a religious and right-wing agenda in the city. Galvanized by the threat to their settlement program in the West Bank, the ideological right went into overdrive. In Jerusalem, a two-pronged campaign was pursued, aimed at suppressing Palestinian political activity in East Jerusalem while also establishing a Jewish presence in as many locations as possible around the Old City.

This activity marked the beginning of a hitherto-unknown intimacy between the non-governmental settlement movement and archaeology in the historic basin. The ultimate aim of the settlers was to create wedges of Jewish settlement in the interstices between Palestinian neighborhoods that would prevent any political division of the city, and eventually to dilute the entire Palestinian presence. Archaeology provided physical and symbolic capital for this project, in the form of a narrative emphasizing Jewish continuity and of relics that testify to such continuity.

Raphael Greenberg has served as a staff member in the Temple Mount and City of David excavations. He also served as the Senior Editor in the Israel Antiquities Authority from 1985 and 2000 . At the present he is a Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at Tel Aviv University.

Read the article in its entirety by visiting the official page of the Jewish Quarterly.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Jerusalem, Temple Mount

The Wisdom of Old Age

James Ball Naylor (1860-1945) was a physician and also a prolific writer of early Ohio history. He wrote poetry and historical novels, with a focus on the struggles between frontier settlers and Indian tribes in the Ohio territory. Recently, I found one of his quotes that speaks about the wisdom of old age:

King David and King Solomon
Led merry, merry lives,
With many, many lady friends
And many, many wives;
But when old age crept over them,
With many, many qualms,
King Solomon wrote Proverbs
And King David wrote the Psalms

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: David, Proverbs, Psalms, Solomon

Eilat Mazar Revises Her Position on Ancient Seal

The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition is reporting on its February 4, 2008 edition that Eilat Mazar has changed her original reading of an ancient seal found at an excavation in Jerusalem and accepted the opinion of several epigraphers on the correct reading of the seal. The following is an excerpt of the news report published by the Jerusalem Post Online:

A prominent Israeli archeologist said Monday that she has revised her reading of an inscription on ancient seal uncovered in an archeological excavation in Jerusalem's City of David after various scholars around the world critiqued her original interpretation of the name on the seal.

The 2,500 year-old black stone seal was found last month amid stratified layers of debris in the excavation under way just outside the Old City walls near the Dung Gate, said archeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, who is leading the dig.

Mazar had originally read the name on the seal as "Temech," and suggested that it belonged to the family of that name mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah.

But after the find was first reported in The Jerusalem Post, various epigraphers around the world said Mazar had erred by reading the inscription on the seal straight on (from right to left) rather than backwards (from left to right), as a result of the fact that a seal creates a mirror image when used to inscribe a piece of clay.

The critics, including the European scholar Peter van der Veen, as well as the epigrapher Ryan Byrne, co-director of the Tel Dan excavations, suggested in Internet blogs that the correct reading of the seal is actually "Shlomit," also a biblical name.

Mazar said Monday that she accepted the reading of "Shlomit" on the ancient seal, and added that she appreciated the scholarly research on the issue.

She noted that the name Shlomit was known in the period form which the seal dated, and that other contemporary seals had been found that bore names of women who held official status in the administration.

It was not clear whether the name on the seal had any connection to the daughter of Zerubbabel by the same time mentioned in 1 Chronicles 3:19, since the name was apparently common in the period.

Read the news release by visiting the Jerusalem Post Online.

Mazar’s reading of the inscription has been challegend by several bloggers, including Peter van der Veen, here and here, and by Chris Heard at Higgaion (and follow the comments at the end of Chris’s post).

For a full discussion of the issue with links, visit the review by Kevin P. Edgecomb at biblicalia.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Eilat Mazar, Shlomit

The Release of Jehoiachin from Prison

The conclusion of the book of Kings (2 Kings 25:27-30) is an appendix to the book which was written in exile. The text describes the release of Jehoiachin from prison. According to the text, in the thirty-seventh year of his exile (560 BCE), Jehoiachin was set free by Evil-merodac and was given preference and a position of honor above the other kings who were vassals and captives in Babylon.

Evil-merodach was the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He is also called Amel-marduk. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah and he reigned three months before he surrendered to the Babylonian army and was deported to Babylon with the royal family and many members of the nobility of Judah.

In Babylon, he spent thirty-seven years in prison. So, when he was set free in 560 BCE, Jehoiachin was fifty-five years old. What changes can happen to one’s life after thirty-seven years in prison? Jehoiachin was born to be a king, a man of power and authority and yet, because of the sins of his people, he was taken into exile, put in prison, and forgotten by all.

As an heir of God’s promise to David, Jehoiachin ruled as the servant and as the son of God, as a seedling from David’s root. As king, he represented the nation and as such, he had to pay for Israel’s rebellion. Even the people in exile recognized this fact: “Our king, the Lord’s anointed, the very life of our nation, was caught in their snares. We had foolishly boasted that under his protection we could hold our own against any nation of earth” (Lamentations 4:20 NLT).

In prison, Jehoiachin lost his dignity as king. He endured suffering and pain; he was ignored by one and all. Some people believed he was an evil king and that his suffering was a punishment sent by God because of the sins of his father Jehoiakim (2 Kings 24:9).

No one ever heard a word spoken by Jehoiachin while he was in prison. It was as if he were dead, as if the prison were his grave. He was arrested, deported, and led off to Babylon to die in prison there. But after thirty-seven years in prison, Jehoiachin again was recognized as a king, given a place of honor at the king’s table, and exalted above the other captive kings. The thirty-seven years of humiliation and suffering were forgotten and a new life began for Jehoiachin.

This privileged situation of Jehoiachin lasted as long as he lived. The date of his death is unknown. Thus, the conclusion of the book of Kings provides a ray of hope, a light shining for the Jewish community, announcing the coming of a new day. God had brought judgment to his people but his anger would not last forever: Israel’s king was alive.

The news that their anointed one, their Messiah, was alive and out of prison brought great joy among the exiles. It is possible that most of them had no idea whether the king was dead or alive. It is possible that many people believed that the king was put to death as punishment for the people’s rebellion and that he was buried with the evil men that had destroyed their land.

To celebrate this special occasion, the prophet of the exile known as Deutero-Isaiah composed a song of thanksgiving for the people in Babylon to celebrate the release of their king from prison.

A Song of Thanksgiving
Celebrating the Release of the King

Who would have believed what we now report?
Who could have seen the Lord’s hand in this?
It was the will of the Lord that his servant
should grow like a plant taking root in dry ground.
He had no dignity or beauty
to make us take notice of him.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing that would draw us to him.
We despised him and rejected him;
he endured suffering and pain.
No one would even look at him -
we ignored him as if he were nothing.

But he endured the suffering that should have been ours,
the pain that we should have borne.
All the while we thought that his suffering
was punishment sent by God.
But because of our sins he was wounded,
beaten because of the evil we did.
We are healed by the punishment he suffered,
made whole by the blows he received.
All of us were like sheep that were lost,
each of us going his own way.
But the Lord made the punishment fall on him,
the punishment all of us deserved.

He was treated harshly, but endured it humbly;
he never said a word.
Like a lamb about to be slaughtered,
like a sheep about to be sheared,
he never said a word.
He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die,
and no one cared about his fate.
He was put to death for the sins of our people.
He was placed in a grave with the wicked,
he was buried with the rich,
even though he had never committed a crime
or ever told a lie.

The Lord says,
It was my will that he should suffer;
his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness.
And so he will see his descendants;
he will live a long life,
and through him my purpose will succeed.
After a life of suffering, he will again have joy;
he will know that he did not suffer in vain.
My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased,
will bear the punishment of many
and for his sake I will forgive them.
And so I will give him a place of honor,
a place among the great and powerful.
He willingly gave his life
and shared the fate of evil men.
He took the place of many sinners
and prayed that they might be forgiven.
(Isaiah 53:1-12)

There was hope for the future. As Deutero-Isaiah had spoken: “My servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up” (Isaiah 52:13).

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Isaiah 53, Jehoiachin, Messiah

The Domestication of Cats in the Fertile Crescent

Archaeozoology is a blog dedicated to the scientific and environmental side of archaeology. Its latest post deals with cats in Mesopotamia. The following is an excerpt from the post:

The Fertile Crescent of the Middle East has long been identified as a “cradle of civilization” for humans. In a new genetic study, researchers at the University of California, Davis, have concluded that all ancestral roads for the modern day domestic cat also lead back to the same locale.

Earlier archaeological evidence and research on the evolutionary history of cats has suggested that domestication of the cat originated about 5,000 to 8,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, a region located today in the Middle East. This is the area around the eastern end of the Mediterranean, stretching from Turkey to northern Africa and eastward to modern day Iraq and Iran. This domestication of the cat occurred as humans transitioned from nomadic herding to raising crops and livestock.

Cats, with their penchant for hunting mice, rats and other rodents, became useful companions as people domesticated, grew and stored wild grains and grasses. Eventually, cats also became pets but were never fully domesticated. Even today, most domestic cats remain self-sufficient, if necessary, and continue to be efficient hunters, even when provided with food.

I do not own a cat but those people who own cats will learn much about the history of cat domestication from this post. The post deals with the different cat breeds and the genetic disorders associated with cats. For cat-lovers, this is a must-read post.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Cats, Fertile Crescent

Book Meme

Chris Brady at Targuman tagged me for the book meme that is circulating in the biblioblog world. The instructions are as follows:

• Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more (no cheating!)

• Find page 123

• Find the first five sentences

• Post the next three sentences

• Tag five people

I just finished reading James K. Hoffmeier, Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997) and the book was by my computer when Chris tagged me.

After following the instructions, here is the result:

“The second scenario correlates the beginning of the oppression of the Hebrews with the renewed interest in the northeast Delta beginning with Horemheb (1323 - 1295 B.C.), continuing under Seti I (1294- 1279 B.C.) and reaching its peak under Ramesses II (1279-1213 B.C.). Prior to the discovery of an early Eighteenth Dynasty fort, it was thought that Avaris had been largely abandoned, even though the expulsion of the Hyksos may not have entailed the forced removal of all the Semites living in the Delta. Rather, a selective group made up of the military and political elite would have been forced out of' Egypt.”

So, now I tag five of my biblioblog friends (who soon may become my enemies): J. P. van de Giessen, John F. Hobbins, Darrell Pursiful, Tim Bulkeley, and Airton José da Silva.


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Book Meme, Meme

Mario Liverani, the Bible, Jim West, and the Unicorn

My review of Mario Liverani’s book, Israel’s History and the History of Israel has been received in different ways by different people (see Jim's blog). It is possible that my post failed to communicate clearly my objections to Liverani’s book or else people misunderstand where I stand on the issue of history and the Bible.

Let me begin by saying that I am not a maximalist nor a minimalist; maybe I am a medialist, as Kevin has suggested. I am not a fundamentalist, I do not believe in inerrancy, and I am not a literalist. I believe that the Bible is sacred Scripture, that God has revealed himself in the history of Israel and in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and that the Bible is a record of that revelation.

I do not adopt a literal interpretation of every fact and statement in the Bible. In my study of the Bible I use historical criticism and a literary approach to the text. I believe that the biblical narratives are based on historical events but it does not mean that history has to become the arbiter of faith.

As a Christian, I believe that the ultimate source for knowing what God has done in history and in the person of Jesus Christ is the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. Everything we know about God we find in the Bible. In fact, without the Bible, our knowledge of God and what he has done would be minuscule. It is because of the Bible that we know the mighty acts of God in the events associated with the Exodus from Egypt and how they became the central focus of much of the Old Testament in the same way that the death and resurrection of Christ became the central focus of the New Testament.

However, the radical criticism and modern skepticism of biblical scholars have removed any possibility of historicity behind these events. To many scholars, these stories are only narratives that are metaphorically true even though they are not literally or factually true.

Marcus Borg, in his book Reading the Bible Again for the First Time (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001), pp. 15-18, said that modernity has influenced the way most people read the Bible today: they know something to be true only when there is valid verification. Thus, one consequence of modernity’s impact on reading the Bible is that modernity has made people skeptical about spiritual realities.

It is this skeptical spirit that has impacted the study of Israelite history. The skeptical understanding of reality has influenced the way the Bible is read and has made the understanding of God and his work in the world a problem that goes against the very core of orthodox Christianity.

According to Borg, the logical outcome of this modern worldview is the kind of skepticism that leads to the rejection of the supernatural and eventually creates what has been called “the death of God theology.”

To me, it seems that biblical scholarship today has rejected the supernatural and developed a non-biblical view of God because of its preoccupation with factuality, that is, that for something to be true or historical it must be scientifically and historically proven by reliable evidence. In criticizing this view, Borg said that “modern Western culture is the only culture in human history that has identified truth with factuality.” He said Christian liberals are “fact fundamentalists,” that is, if a statement cannot be proved scientifically or historically, then that statement is not true.

Many biblical scholars are influenced by a postmodernity understanding of the Bible. This view affirms that historical events are culturally conditioned and in general, are historical reconstructions of the past. This is the view espoused by Liverani when he writes that the early history of Israel is an “invented history,” a reconstruction of the past in order to meet the political and ideological needs of the post-exilic Judean community.

It is the same view that led Borg to say: “The way of seeing and reading the Bible that I describe in the rest of this book leads to a way of being Christian that has very little to do with believing” (p. 18). Borg sees the Bible as the human product of two communities: Israel and the church. What the Bible says is the words of those two communities, not the word of God. Thus, the Bible as a whole does not have divine origin. The Bible is not divine in some parts and in some part human; the Bible is all a human product.

If the biblical narratives are invented history, then the Bible is no better than the Baal stories. If the Bible is only a human product, a work without divine origin, then there is no difference between the God of the Bible and Baal or Marduk.

The matter has to do how we teach and preach the biblical narratives. Now, here is where I need Jim West’s help and this is a sincere request since Jim teaches seminary students (as I do) and he pastors a church where he preaches to his congregation (as I do).

Let us suppose that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David never existed, that they were part of this invented history created by a group of Zionists to justify their right to take the land from poor peasants who lived in Palestine in the sixth or fifth centuries BCE. My question is: how is the fact that these people did not exist, the fact that they are literary creation, the fruit of a fertile mind, how does this fact affect our understanding of the New Testament? Here are four examples:

1. In Exodus 3:6 God said: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” This statement was quoted by Jesus when speaking about the resurrection: “But about the resurrection of the dead-- have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Matthew 22:31-32).

If Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never existed, how can this statement be true, even metaphorically true? Or does it matter?

2. During the transfiguration of Jesus, Matthew 17:2-3 says that Jesus was talking to Moses. I know that this is only a vision but one that even Peter saw. However, how could Jesus speak to Moses if Moses was just an invention of a creative writer?

3. In John 8:58 Jesus said: “‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’” This verse says something special about Jesus and in the process says something important about Abraham.

4. In the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:1, Jesus Christ is called the son of David, the son of Abraham. However, how can this be true if David and Abraham never existed?

How do minimalists explain and understand these statements of the New Testament if these people never existed? Do we take the approach used by the people at the Jesus Seminar? How do Christians proclaim the truth of the gospel when these statement are based on a fictive history that tells the actions of people who never existed? I hope Jim (or any biblioblogger) has a good answer for me.

It is easy to say that Jesus was just quoting from the “invented history.” It is also easy to say that Jesus was accommodating himself to the knowledge of the people of his day, or that in his humanity he did not know everything, or that this is just metaphorical language, or that this is just the way the early church believed these things to be.

If the Bible is just a human book, the product of ancient Israel and the early church, then these four statements are only what those human writers believed these things to be. So, nothing needs to be historical because human beings can invent a history to provide political and religious legitimation to an ideology or a community either in the sixth century (ancient Israel) or the first century (the early church).

However, if the Bible is a record of God’s revelation in the history of Israel, if the Bible is the Word of God transmitted through human agents, then a metaphorical truth will not be sufficient to explain the biblical narratives. Contrary to what Borg wrote, reading the Bible from a Christian perspective has a lot to do with believing.

Whether one believes the history of Israel is based on historical events or is an invented history depends on whether the Bible is only the words of human beings or whether it is the word of God. I know where I stand and I can do no other.

In the end, Mario Liverani, Jim West, and Claude Mariottini may not amount to much. Some of my paranoid readers believe that the Second Coming of Christ will be in 2012. If Jesus does not come in 2012, then in one or two generations Liverani, Jim, and I will be history (whether invented or real the Lemches of the future will decide), but the truth of the Bible will remain.

Until now I have talked about Liverani, the Bible, and Jim West. But, how about the unicorn? As for the unicorn, we all know they never existed (read Duane’s post).

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Abraham, Bible, Marcus Borg, Mario Liverani, Revelation