Did God Drink Beer and Other Important Archaeological Questions?

In a recent article for the Biblical Archaeology Review, the scholar Professor Michael Homan writes that ancient Israelites, with the possible exception of the Nazirites, routinely drank beer – and lots of it! Beer was a staple in the Israelite diet, just as it was in other ancient Near East cultures who grew grain. Men, women and even children of all social classes drank it regularly.

Homan then points out that even Yahweh, according to Hebrew Scriptures, drank at least half a ‘hin’ of beer (roughly equivalent to a six-pack) on a normal day, and even more on a Sabbath. Of course, this was through the cultic practice of libation, which involves the pouring out of a drink on an altar as an offering to a deity.

Homan believes that ancient Israel’s fondness for beer has largely been ignored because of the confusing of the Hebrew word for beer, and also a general “snobbery in academia causing scholars to scorn beer drinking while celebrating wine culture.” He also points out the huge health benefits that came from producing and drinking beer, and that it could well have been a major player in numerous technological and cultural developments through the ages.

Homan does remind his readers that the Hebrew Bible warns against consuming too much beer and calls for moderation.

To read the full article, please go to http://www.bib-arch.org

Top U.S. Military Commander Pleads with Florida Church to Cancel their ‘Burn a Quran Day’

General David Petraus, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, said in a statement on Monday that a Florida church’s plan to burn Qurans on Sept. 11 could be detrimental to American troops overseas, and also negatively impact other innocents in Muslim dominated countries.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan,” said Gen. Petraeus. “It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community."

As previously reported in 'So What?', an inter-denominational Florida church called the Dove World Outreach Center plans to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Petraeus’ plea has been joined to numerous other Christian voices from all over the world urging the church not to go through with their plans. This includes the largest evangelical body in the U.S., the National Association of Evangelicals as well as the National Council of churches.

Protests around the Muslim world from Afghanistan to Indonesia have already been held in anticipation of this event. Protestors in Afghanistan burnt American flags and chanted “Death to America” and “Long live Islam.” They also burnt an effigy of the Dove World Outreach Center’s pastor, Terry Jones.

Open Doors, a ministry that works with persecuted churches, warned that the Quran burning could have severe repercussions for Christians living in Muslim dominated countries.

“The burning of Qurans will only confirm what many Muslims believe – that Christians hate Muslims,” said Dr. Carl Moeller, president/CEO of Open Doors USA. “That is exactly the opposite message we as Christians want to send. We want to reach out in love to them.”

In countries such as Pakistan, there is already a history of Christians being falsely accused of desecrating the Quran by Muslims and sent to jail, because under that country’s controversial blasphemy law, a Muslim can accuse a Christian of insulting Islam’s holy book without evidence.

Abdul Shakoor, an 18-year-old high school student who said he joined the Kabul protest after hearing neighbors talk about the Quran burning, commented, “We know this is not just the decision of a church. It is the decision of the president and the entire United States," as reported by The Associated Press.

Flood Crisis in Pakistan Worsens

It is over a month since floods initially ravaged Pakistan’s northwest region, and aid workers on the ground believe that the crisis will “get worse before it gets better.”

Almost 50% of the affected population – 17 million – have still not been reached since both urban and rural areas in the region were flooded by water from the excessively heavy monsoon rains, and their circumstances are continuing to deteriorate.

Unsafe water and generally unsanitary conditions are resulting in outbreaks of diarrhea and raising concerns about cholera. The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that more than 500,000 cases of acute diarrhea and nearly 95,000 cases of suspected malaria have been treated since the floods first hit.

Other problems include young children, who are forced to wear the same muddy clothes for days on end are developing skin diseases, and many people are unable to bury their dead properly because there is simply not enough dry land on which to intern them.

"What we hear from the people living in the camps is that they are hanging on, surviving on what little food and water they receive, wearing the clothes they escaped the floods in, and trying to keep their children and livestock alive," said Mike Bailey, regional advocacy manager for Christian relief group World Vision. "The truth is that, despite of the amount of aid that has already been provided in some places, many people are in worse shape now than they were two weeks ago."

In their report World Vision said that entry into the worst-hit areas remains one of the chief obstacles in providing appropriate relief in this disaster. Many towns, such as those in Punjab, are still unapproachable over a month after the flooding began due to significant damage to transport systems such as roads and bridges. Communication networks have also been affected so further increasing the difficulties in providing sufficient aid.

Although the relief work has been a joint effort between the United Nations, the Pakistani army and a host of local and international relief groups, their combined resources have so far proved insufficient to provide medicine, food and water to the worst affected regions,. It is estimated that there are about eight million people who are in need of emergency assistance that cannot be reached.

"It's still difficult to assess the full extent of the damage, but we know that children and families are still in desperate need of the most basic things like food, clean water, and shelter," said Bailey. "Even when we focus on providing the most urgently-needed relief supplies, we've still been able to reach just one-tenth of the people we're trying to help in the next three months."

The World Food Program has said that at least 40 heavy helicopters are needed to assist. The United States has promised to provide a further 18 helicopters to work alongside the 15 already working in the region.

However, aid agencies are still struggling to raise the funds needed to properly assist those stricken by this massive humanitarian crisis. Only about two-thirds of the $460 million the U.N. requested for emergency aid has been raised, according to the head of the World Food Program. But the food agency itself has less than half the money it needs to feed those affected.

The scale of the disaster has raised concerns about the stability of nuclear-armed Pakistan, which is already reeling from al-Qaida and Taliban violence and massive economic woes.

Pope Will Try To Prevent Stoning of Iranian Woman

Pope Benedict XVI is keeping a close eye on the case of an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning and may involve himself in trying to prevent her punishment through the appropriate diplomatic channels, the Vatican said on Sunday.

The pope has made similar moves in the past in humanitarian cases, but his intervention is dependent upon being asked by authorities in another country and also great care is given to ensure the matter goes through proper diplomatic channels, and not publicly, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in a statement.

"The Holy See is following the case with attention and participation," Lombardi said. "The position of the church, which is opposed to the death penalty, is that stoning is a particularly brutal form."

Presently, the Italian government is at the forefront of pleading clemency for the woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

Ashtiani was condemned to death by stoning after she was convicted of adultery, although the Iranian judiciary have yet to confirm that this is considered a final verdict on her case, reports CNN.com.

A large photo of Ashtiani has been hung outside Italy's Equal Opportunities Ministry to increase public awareness of her predicament.

"'This unprecedented act aims to mobilize opinion and contribute to saving Sakineh from a brutal, unacceptable sentence,'' Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna said in a joint statement.

''The case is being followed closely by the foreign ministry and personally by Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, who has given instructions for close bilateral relations to be maintained with the Iranian authorities so that they consider clemency in this specific case,'' a recent ministry statement said.

Italy has some leverage with Iran since it is a key trade partner, with bilateral trade exceeding $8 billion in 2009 alone.

In other news related to this case, Ashtiani has also been sentenced to 99 lashes because her lawyer inadvertently allowed the publication of a picture of her without a headscarf. She was sentenced to this further punishment by a prison judge for spreading “corruption and indecency” with the photo.

Has Hawking Really Disproved God?

Headlines are boldly proclaiming it, talks shows are happily buzzing, and the comments columns on internet sites have been heating up steadily ever since news broke on world famous physicist Stephen Hawking’s latest book which apparently disproves God entirely. Or more correctly, disproves the need for there to be a God actively involved in the creation of the universe.

Hawking says in his book "The Grand Design" that, given the existence of gravity, "the universe can and will create itself from nothing," according to an excerpt published on Thursday in The Times of London.

"Spontaneous creation is the reason why there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist," he says.

"It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper [fuse] and set the universe going," he writes.

Hawking co-wrote the book with science writer Leonard Mlodinow, and their answer is what they have called the “M-theory,” which posits 11 space-time dimensions, "vibrating strings, point particles, two-dimensional membranes, three-dimensional blobs and other objects that are more difficult to picture and occupy even more dimensions of space."

If you are confused about why exactly this may disprove God, then read on.

Hawking says that while he understands the feelings of the renowned English scientist Sir Isaac Newton - that God did "create" and "conserve" order in the universe and designed it uniquely to be comfortable for human life - the discovery of other solar systems outside our own in 1992 undercuts this key idea.

Hawking argues that if there are untold numbers of planets in the galaxy, it's less remarkable that there's one with conditions for human life. In fact, according to Hawking, any form of intelligent life that evolves anywhere will automatically find that it lives somewhere suitable for it.

Hawking then introduces the idea of multiple universes, saying that if there are many universes, one will have laws of physics like ours - and in such a universe, something not only can, but must, arise from nothing. Therefore, he concludes, there's no need for God to explain it.

However, many of Hawking's Cambridge colleagues believe that the famous physicist is missing a vital point in his arguments and that as a result he is debunking the wrong God.

"The 'god' that Stephen Hawking is trying to debunk is not the creator God of the Abrahamic faiths who really is the ultimate explanation for why there is something rather than nothing," said Denis Alexander, director of The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion.

"Hawking's god is a god-of-the-gaps used to plug present gaps in our scientific knowledge.”

Fraser Watts, an Anglican priest and Cambridge expert in the history of science, said that it's not the existence of the universe that proves the existence of God. And, he said, "a creator God provides a reasonable and credible explanation of why there is a universe, and ... it is somewhat more likely that there is a God than that there is not. That view is not undermined by what Hawking has said."

In his blog, The Cosmic Log, the science editor and author Alan Boyle underscores these sentiments by writing:

“Does Hawking's view mean that modern physics "leaves no place for God in the creation of the universe," as the Times suggests, or that "God did not create the universe," as The Guardian claims? Not unless you need a "God of the Gaps" to step into science's place. A more sophisticated view would hold that physics (and evolutionary biology, to cite another example) are the not-always-mysterious ways in which God routinely works. In fact, Soren Kierkegaard would say that God's workings have to be transparent — and I tend to side with Soren.”

While controversy will continue to rage because it sells newspapers, and ‘evangelical’ atheists like Richard Dawkins will be quick to jump on this particular bandwagon (and indeed, already have), it does need to be clearly stated that Hawking’s suppositions about why God may not NEED to exist have already been argued for decades now. Which is why cynics might well wonder if the sensationalist angle of Hawking’s book is being deliberately worked to sell more copies! Yet, it is important for Christians to enter this debate in a manner that is gracious, thoughtful and sensitive rather than being angrily reactional. It is also important to remember that Hawking clearly has not disproved God once and for all, and that respected Christian scientists have serious grounds to argue that even if every mystery of the universe is explained by science, it will not explain away the God who may use (as he always has) the ‘not-always-mysterious ways’ to routinely work in the universe.

Hawking's book will be published on September 7 in the United States and on September 9 in the United Kingdom.

80% of Adults Worldwide Say Religion is of Personal Importance

Eight in ten adults globally state that religion is an integral part of their daily lives, according to Gallup surveys conducted in 114 different countries.

Just as in previous surveys, however, there is a direct correlation between socioeconomic status and religiosity, with the world’s poorest countries reporting higher percentages of those who claim religion is important in their daily lives, reported Gallup on Tuesday.

The globe’s poorest countries are those with an average per-capita income of $2,000 or less where the median proportion who state that religion is important in their daily lives is 95 percent.

This is in stark contrast with a median of 47 percent for the richest countries (those with an average per-capita income of over $25,000).

“Social scientists have put forth numerous possible explanations for the relationship between the religiosity of a population and its average income level,” said Gallup editor Steve Crabtree.

“One theory is that religion plays a more functional role in the world's poorest countries, helping many residents cope with a daily struggle to provide for themselves and their families. A previous Gallup analysis supports this idea,” he added.

In Gallup’s analysis of their surveys, they discovered that a relationship between religiosity and emotional well-being is stronger among those in poor countries than among those in the developed world.

Countries such as the United States buck this trend. This is because according to Gallup, 65 percent of Americans say religion is important in their daily lives. Other high-income countries which emphasise the importance of religion include Italy, Greece, Singapore, and countries in the Persian Gulf.

The top six countries with the highest percentage of people placing importance on religion were found to be Bangladesh, Niger, Yemen, Indonesia, Malawi, and Sri Lanka – with at least 99 percent in each reporting religion as important in their daily lives.

The six countries with the lowest percentages were Estonia (16 percent), Sweden (17 percent), Denmark (19 percent), Japan (24 percent), and Hong Kong (24 percent).

Christian Relief Worker Freed After 105 Days in Captivity

After 105 days spent in captivity in Sudan, a 35 year old aid worker for the Christian relief organization, Samaritan’s Purse, was released on Monday.

Flavia Wagner was greeted enthusiastically by Samaritan’s Purse co-workers and international security personnel as she arrived at the Khartoum airport. Wagner was clearly exhausted but in good health despite her ordeal.

In May, Wagner and another Samaritan’s Purse employee and a local driver were abducted after their convoy was halted by eight armed men in Sudan’s Darfur region. The three were part of a ten person team engaged in educational assessments in local communities but Wagner was the only non-Sudanese person abducted.

Seven days later the two Sudanese men were released unharmed and without further explanation. Wagner remained in captivity but was allowed to contact family and friends on more than one occasion. Since then the Samaritan’s Purse has worked alongside the U.S. and Sudanese government in efforts to secure her release.

“We thank God that Flavia is safe and free,” stated Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse and son of the famous evangelist Billy Graham. “We appreciate the help of the government of Sudan and the United States government.

“People around the world have been praying for her safety and her release. Today, those prayers have been answered,” he added.

At this stage it is not clear exactly when Wagner would be returning home, although she said she is looking forward to being reunited with her family in the U.S.

The Samaritan's Purse, a non-profit organization, has about 548 national and expat staff in the Sudan and seeks to provide immediate response to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situations. They work in more than a hundred countries around the globe.

(Photo: Samaritan's Purse)