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Where Was the Capitol in Roman Jerusalem?
When Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, the site of what would one day be the Holy Sepulchre Church was an abandoned stone quarry. A catacomb cut into the western side of the quarry attests that the quarry had fallen into disuse. The innermost chamber of the catacomb contains kokhim tombs. These deep recesses into the rock, typical of the first centuries B.C. and A.D., can still be seen behind the Syrian Chapel in the Holy Sepulchre Church today.
Bible Review, December 1997
The Geography of Faith
Tracing the Via Dolorosa
The Latin words Via Dolorosa mean the “Sorrowful Way.” They were first used by the Franciscan Boniface of Ragusa in the second half of the 16th century as the name of the...
Bible Review, December 1996
Where Was James Buried?
Making sense of contradictory accounts
Controversy over the burial of James, the brother of Jesus, is nothing new. As early as the fourth century A.D., the location of James’s tomb was disputed. In the words of the church father Jerome, writing in 392 A.D.: “Some monks think James...
Bible Review, June 2003
Triumph over Temptation
The historical core behind the testing of Jesus
Three gospels tell of the devil testing Jesus in the wilderness, an incident so remarkable as to seem almost certainly unreal. But is it? Our author suggests a historical core to the tale, a substratum reflecting struggles Jesus faced in his lifetime.
Bible Review, August 1999
What Was Paul Doing in “Arabia”?
About Paul’s missionary journeys to the west much has been written. But almost nothing has been said of his trip to Arabia. No wonder; it is barely mentioned, almost as an aside, in Galatians 1:17: “I went away into Arabia, and again I returned to Damascus.” Few commentators who...
Bible Review, October 1994
The Garden Tomb and the Misfortunes of an Inscription
On November 7, 1889, the Northern Christian Advocate (Syracuse, New York) published a note from an anonymous correspondent in Jerusalem: “There are strange rumors afloat about an inscription found at St. Stephen’s [St. Étienne’s...
Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 1986
Bethlehem…Of Course
Steve Mason has probably made the best case possible that we should adopt an “agnostic” position regarding the birthplace of Jesus. But although Mason has examined the literary data...
Bible Review, February 2000
Why Jesus Went Back to Galilee
Why did Jesus go back to preach in Galilee? The question may seem a silly one. After all, he was a native of Nazareth in Galilee, and it was natural that he should preach to his own...
Bible Review, February 1996
Fishers of Fish, Fishers of Men
What we know of the first disciples from their profession
What sorts of men were Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John—crude, ignorant laborers or savvy and practical men of the world? The reliability of much of the Gospels rides on the answer.
Bible Review, June 1999
What Really Happened at Gethsemane?
The scene has stimulated the imagination of great painters. The light of a full moon accentuates the shadows in a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives. A lonely figure prays in...
Bible Review, April 1998
What Really Happened at the Transfiguration?
A Literary Critic Deepens Our Understanding
In the Gospel miracle stories, Jesus does wonderful things. But the divine power that he dispenses flows through his person while leaving him untouched. In the Transfiguration episode,...
Bible Review, Fall 1987
Why Doesn’t God Answer Prayers?
How the First Christians Dealt with Divine Silence
We are told that God hears our prayers. Then why doesn’t he listen? The most consoling words in the New Testament are, “Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7 = Luke 11:9). The...
Bible Review, April 2004
On the Road and on the Sea with St. Paul
Travelling conditions in the first century
In the Acts of the Apostles, we are told that Paul made three missionary journeys. In almost every introduction to the New Testament I have seen, the author discusses St. Paul’s journeys in terms of places and dates; his concern is to...
Bible Review, Summer 1985
Jots & Tittles
Bible Review, April 2000
ReViews: A Vision of Paul
The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church’s Conservative Icon
Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan
Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 2010