Dr. Ben Witherington (a real scholar) has a post in which he shows how completely ridiculous the claims of movie director James Cameron (not a scholar by any stretch) that he has discovered the lost tomb of Jesus Christ.
THE JESUS TOMB? ‘TITANIC’ TALPIOT TOMB THEORY SUNK FROM THE START
One does get tired of the media going into a tizzy every time some idiot comes along with such manifestly baseless claims, and making pronouncements about how this could "rock the Christian faith." It would probably help if more people in the media had a real education of their own -- in some field other than how to look good on camera.
Update:
Get Religion weighs in on this as well.
Codex gives a round up of other posts on this subject.
More updates:
Ben Witherington adds to his original comments here.
More from Ben Witherington:
THE SMOKING GUN---TENTH TALPIOT OSSUARY PROVED TO BE BLANK
More from Get Religion:
Can we call Lost Tomb a hoax now?
And Codex gives another days round up of news on this subject.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
A Hymn by St. Nectarios
You can hear this hymn in Greek by clicking on the video above. You can read about St. Nectarios, by clicking here.
O Virgin Pure
by St. Nectarios
Plagal First Tone (Tone 5)
Refrain: O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.
O Virgin pure, immaculate/ O Lady Theotokos
O Virgin Mother, Queen of all/ and fleece which is all dewy
More radiant than the rays of sun/ and higher than the heavens
Delight of virgin choruses/ superior to Angels.
Much brighter than the firmament/ and pure than the sun's light
More holy than the multitude/ of all the heav'nly armies.
O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.
O Ever Virgin Mary/ of all the world, the Lady
O bride all pure, immaculate/ O Lady Panagia
O Mary bride and queen of all/ our cause of jubilation
Majestic maiden, Queen of all/ O our most holy Mother
More hon'rable than Cherubim/ beyond compare more glorious
than immaterial Seraphim/ and greater than angelic thrones.
O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.
Rejoice, O song of Cherubim/ Rejoice, O hymn of angels
Rejoice, O ode of Seraphim/ the joy of the archangels
Rejoice, O peace and happiness/ the harbor of salvation
O sacred chamber of the Word/ flower of incorruption
Rejoice, delightful paradise/ of blessed life eternal
Rejoice, O wood and tree of life/ the fount of immortality
O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.
I supplicate you, Lady/ now do I call upon you
And I beseech you, Queen of all/ I beg of you your favor
Majestic maiden, spotless one/ O Lady Panagia
I call upon you fervently/ O sacred, hallowed temple
Assist me and deliver me/ protect me from the enemy
And make me an inheritor/ of blessed life eternal.
O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.
You can read the text of this hymn in Greek at:
http://agrino.org/cyberdesert/agni.htm
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Icon Exhibit this weekend
You can read all about it by clicking here.
One thing we have that is new this year is a guide to the icons that you can use to better understand what you are looking at. The icons are numbered, and by looking up each number in the guide, you can find the story behind that particular icon.
Friday we had a very good turn out, due in part to an article that ran Thursday in the Chronicle's Northside insert, which was placed on the front page of that section, and included a color photo which helped to draw attention to the article (unfortunately, the online version does not include the photo).
Unfortunately the article misquotes me as saying:
"We really want people from all backgrounds to understand Orthodox Christianity not as some weird or exotic religion but as rooted in Christianity"
The reporter was taking notes, rather than recording the interview, and I am sure that this was completely unintentional, but what I actually said was that I wanted people of other Christian backgrounds to understand that their faith traces its roots back to our Tradition.
Nevertheless, we have seen a wonderful turn out as a result of that article.
Last night we also had a wonderful talk from Fr. Joseph Huneycutt.
One thing we have that is new this year is a guide to the icons that you can use to better understand what you are looking at. The icons are numbered, and by looking up each number in the guide, you can find the story behind that particular icon.
Friday we had a very good turn out, due in part to an article that ran Thursday in the Chronicle's Northside insert, which was placed on the front page of that section, and included a color photo which helped to draw attention to the article (unfortunately, the online version does not include the photo).
Unfortunately the article misquotes me as saying:
"We really want people from all backgrounds to understand Orthodox Christianity not as some weird or exotic religion but as rooted in Christianity"
The reporter was taking notes, rather than recording the interview, and I am sure that this was completely unintentional, but what I actually said was that I wanted people of other Christian backgrounds to understand that their faith traces its roots back to our Tradition.
Nevertheless, we have seen a wonderful turn out as a result of that article.
Last night we also had a wonderful talk from Fr. Joseph Huneycutt.