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Evangelical

2023-06-29T08:55:36-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Flesh Eaters= Sarcophagi

Last updated on: June 29, 2023 at 8:55 am By Ben Witherington

Perhaps you’ll remember the old pizza commercial— what do you want on your Tombstone? Well the ancients who had any resources at all wanted to honor their dead, not least because they believed their spirits or genii were still out there in the afterlife. The more elite persons or wealthy freedmen spared no expense in marble sarcophagi with all kinds of images on them. For instance, if you were a famous gladiator you might show what your trade was on... Read more

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Flesh Eaters!!

2023-06-29T08:28:54-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Heads Up

Last updated on: June 29, 2023 at 8:28 am By Ben Witherington

It is indeed very surprising that considering what a major tourist attraction Ephesus is, with cruise boat loads of people showing up again and again, that there is not a major archaeological museum on or near the site. There is a small one, but it is so small they’ve had to leave many of the artifacts outside, or in the courtyard. Fortunately now there is the new Izmir Museum to pick up some of the slack. Below you will see... Read more

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Know thyself

2023-06-26T07:59:57-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Rethinking Ephesians 1-2

Last updated on: June 26, 2023 at 7:59 am By Ben Witherington

‘IN CHRIST’—PAUL’S PREFERRED LANGUAGE FOR CHRISTIANS AND THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY The phrase. ‘in Christ’ or ‘in Him’ (ἐν αὐτῷ) used interchangeably occurs some 39 time in the NT mostly in Paul’s letters, 11 examples of which are found in the opening 202 word sentence in Ephesians 1. Paul does not use the language we find in Acts, namely the term Χριστιανούς– which means a partisan of Christ, or belonging to Christ, but we simply translate the term as ‘Christians’. ... Read more

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Being in Christ

2023-07-25T21:11:57-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Oppenheimer— A Modern Morality Play

Last updated on: July 25, 2023 at 9:11 pm By Ben Witherington

This is in some ways, an epic of epic proportions. It is frankly too long, but it raises such an important question, namely whether there is any justification for using weapons of mass destruction that do not discriminate between combatants and innocent citizens, even in a lesser of two evils situation, that one must be content to sit and watch this painful long drama a bit at a time. I will talk about the film below, but first I would... Read more

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What counts as a nuclear holocaust?

2023-06-26T07:33:44-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Lynn Cohick’s Ephesians commentary

Last updated on: June 26, 2023 at 7:33 am By Ben Witherington

Lynn Cohick, The Letter to the Ephesians, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020), 520 pages. So I decided to do something I’ve never done before in the last 50 years of studying the Greek New Testament. I read right through a major commentary skipping nothing. It turned out to be very worthwhile. In fact, it was rather like writing such a commentary, which I have done on Ephesians (see my The Letters to Philemon, Colossians, and Ephesians, 2007). Lynn Cohick’s commentary... Read more

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Great is Ephesians

2023-06-21T09:37:36-04:00

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Patmos Pictures-2

Last updated on: June 21, 2023 at 9:37 am By Ben Witherington

So there is a long walk up a hill, and then a further walk up to the top of the hill where the monastery was. So, first the cave….. To give you some perspective, here’s the view from below up to the monastery. This is a steep hill. So here is the monastery itself, which is worth a visit, skip the trinket shop, where amazingly, they still sell postcards which are antiques now. This is a beautiful well maintained monastery.... Read more

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The Orthodox monastery

2023-06-21T09:39:18-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Patmos Pictures—1

Last updated on: June 21, 2023 at 9:39 am By Ben Witherington

Going to Patmos, a good 60 or so miles off the Turkish coast, depending on where you catch the ferry, is not a journey for those who get easily seasick. The ferries going bouncing along, and depending on how heavy the chop is, you may really be slamming up and down the waves. But is it worth the trip? Well yes…. and no? If you are wanting to see some ancient archaeological site, then Patmos is not for you. You... Read more

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In search of John of Patmos

2023-06-16T14:24:00-04:00

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The Remarkable New Izmir Museum– Part Five

Last updated on: June 16, 2023 at 2:24 pm By Ben Witherington

With the sarcophagi on the first floor there is also a model of a famous mausoleum from Smyrna. If you are wondering, yes, there are some Christian artifacts in this museum, in particular some icons. There are also interesting smaller objects too. There is even some metal work, this time of the god Demeter…. There is a nice description of a day in the life of someone who lived in Smyrna in the Roman period. In short, this new museum... Read more

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Sundry superlatives

2023-06-16T14:02:42-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Remarkable New Izmir Museum– Part Four

Last updated on: June 16, 2023 at 2:02 pm By Ben Witherington

As I have mentioned, the murals in this museum are just excellent. First here’s one of a library. Nearby Pergamon had the very best library in the ancient world, except for the one in Alexandria. Or consider this one of a medical practice. Again, Pergamon had a famous Asklepion and the equally famous doctor Galen was from there… Or here’s a woman called Sophilos—a painter…. Notice the mistake in the poster telling us she is a he…. Here’s a nice... Read more

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Mural aplenty

2023-06-16T14:27:58-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Remarkable New Izmir Museum– Part Three

Last updated on: June 16, 2023 at 2:27 pm By Ben Witherington

Smyrna did not lack for entertainment, by which I mean plays, but also Olympic style games, to which the Romans added gladiatorial combat, or bloodsport. In an honor and shame culture, while entertainment was important and mostly for the leisure class (i.e. mostly the rich who had time for it), honor was also established by honorific inscriptions, which kept these guys in work…. But the rich also wanted glass objects, and decorative perfume vials too. Read more

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