It is not easy to overestimate the significance of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. Because of its long-term consequences, it may well be considered the greatest tragedy in Jewish history. It is the most defining. It set the stage for what became an endless procession of Jewish suffering down to, including, and beyond the Holocaust. The disaster was further compounded by the fact that Rabbi Akiba, the father of rabbinic Judaism, proclaimed Bar Kokhba, the leader of the rebellion, to be God's Anointed, the Messiah. In the eighteen hundred and fifty years since, as students of History and various...

In the name of "That Man " people who claimed to be his followers carried out endless persecutions, proclaiming the absolute rejection and eternal damnation of the Jewish people, his people. They lied, but their vile actions and teachings had an impact which continues to this day. For centuries, it was forbidden to even utter the name of "That Man " in the Jewish community. His name remained unspoken or distorted. He was only referred to in oblique ways. But the story of "That Man " is a first-century Jewish story of God's faithfulness to Israel. It is presented as completely dependent upon...

Two communities, which both started out from Jerusalem, have long pointed their members in opposite directions to pray and serve God. Members of both have seen an irreconcilable conflict between the Law of Moses and the New Covenant which Yeshua brought. Traditional understanding ignores the historical reality, which is actually quite clear. As Irenaeus recorded in "Against Heresies," written about 180 A.D.: "the Apostles... allowed the Gentiles to act freely, yielding us up to the Spirit of God. But they themselves, while knowing the same God, continued in the ancient observances... Thus did...

"Every man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself." Samuel Butler, though he was not fond of religion or religious people, has provided a wonderful introduction for a study of the Bible. The Bible presents itself as being communication from God to humanity. On the surface, it is about humanity and our various conceits, successes, and failures; but at its core, it is a portrait of its Author. Likewise, the world that God created, and especially the creature He made in His own likeness and image, is "a portrait of...