Could this be the earliest portrait of Jesus?

It is an eerily familiar image: a young man with long curly hair and beard. After lying hidden for nearly two thousand years in a small niche at the back of a cave, the fine details are difficult to make out, but what is clearly evident is the crown of thorns worn on the young man’s brow.

This extraordinary picture could well be the first ever picture of Jesus, and can bee seen on one of the recently discovered 70 lead credit-card sized codices (booklets) found in a cave overlooking the Sea of Galilee.

What is even more exciting, is that if this picture is genuine, it could have been made by someone who actually knew Jesus. One of the other booklets bears the words ‘Saviour of Israel’ - one of the few phrases so far translated.

The find was only made after rain washed away the back of a Jordanian cave to reveal a previously hidden niche. Bible scholars and historians are desperate to investigate the find more closely as most of the books have not been opened or studied since they are extremely fragile due to the ravages of time.

It has also come to light that this discovery was actually made five years ago, and the codices spent time on the black market before finding their way into the hands of a Bedouin trucker Hassan Saido who refuses to sell them, but has agreed for samples to be sent to Europe for testing.

It is for this reason that debate rages over whether these booklets are genuine, with the Israeli archaeological establishment casting doubt on their authenticity. However, the country where they were originally discovered, Jordan, has announced it will "exert all efforts at every level" to get the relics repatriated.

The director of Jordan’s Department of Antiquities, Ziad al-Saad, has few doubts about the authenticity of the booklets. He is convinced they may indeed have been made by followers of Jesus in the few decades immediately following his crucifixion.

“They will really match, and perhaps be more significant than, the Dead Sea Scrolls,” he stated. “The initial information is very encouraging and it seems that we are looking at a very important and significant discovery – maybe the most important discovery in the history of archaeology.”

Atheist Christopher Hitchens Praises the 'timeless' KJV

It seems a strange thing for philosopher Christopher Hitchens to be lauding a version of the Bible, since he is perhaps most famous for his atheism. Hitchens is the author of ‘God is not Great’ and regularly debates well-known Christian thinkers claiming that religion does more harm than good in society.

Yet, Hitchens is the second man made famous by his atheism, after the scientist Richard Dawkins, to praise the King James Bible in honour of the 400th anniversary of the translation, although it must be noted his praise was for its impact on literature rather anything religious.

"Though I am sometimes reluctant to admit it, there really is something 'timeless' in the Tyndale/King James synthesis," Hitchens admitted in a commentary featured in Vanity Fair.

"For generations, it provided a common stock of references and allusions, rivalled only by Shakespeare in this respect.

"It resounded in the minds and memories of literate people, as well as of those who acquired it only by listening."

While Hitchens praises the KJV, which was first published in 1611, he is scathing in his criticism of other translations that attempt to modernise and update it.

Offering one comparison, Hitchens quotes a passage in the New Testament book of Philippians, which he read at his father's funeral:

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (King James Version).

The same passage in the Contemporary English Version states: "Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.”

Hitchens terms the contemporary version "pancake-flat" and more suited for "a basement meeting of AA".

"[T]hese words could not hope to penetrate the torpid, resistant fog in the mind of a 16-year-old boy, as their original had done for me," he asserts.

Hitchens also laughs off gender neutral language versions of the Bible as "slightly ingratiating obeisance".

"[T]to suggest that Saint Paul, of all people, was gender-neutral is to re-write the history as well as to rinse out the prose," Hitchens states.

In fact, Hitchens laments the slow eclipse of the KJV at the hands of these other translations.

"A culture that does not possess this common store of image and allegory will be a perilously thin one. To seek restlessly to update it or make it 'relevant' is to miss the point, like yearning for a hip-hop Shakespeare," he wrote. "'Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward,' says the Book of Job. Want to try to improve that for Twitter?"

Although, true to form, and amidst all the praise, Hitchens could resist the temptation to state his own beliefs as he concluded by stating his unwavering belief that "religion is man-made, with inky human fingerprints all over its supposedly inspired and unalterable texts".

Tackling Biblical Illiteracy One Blog at a Time

With growing concerns over the increasing Biblical illiteracy revealed in research by The Barna Group, Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology has launched a new blog as a way of making free education available to people, as well as providing a public forum platform.

Updated daily, the “The Good Book Blog,” will be written entirely by seminary faculty and maintained by 30 professors.

“At a time when biblical literacy is at an all-time low, and there are so many muddled, uninformed views of the Bible, something like The Good Book Blog is such a breath of fresh air,” said Brett McCracken, author of Hipster Christianity and regular blogger.

“For a seminary to take its vast academic resources and put it online for the world’s benefit is not only to be lauded, but it’s to be modeled. More schools should be doing things like this.”

By sharing their expertise in different areas such as biblical studies, theology, philosophy, spiritual formation, and Christian education, the professors hope to combat biblical illiteracy, and resource the wider church.

With posts ranging from topics like “Actually Praying” to “Theotechnos: Some Reflections on the Intersection of Social Media and Theology,” The Good Book Blog offers resources to Christians of all levels and backgrounds.

For more information, visit www.thegoodbookblog.com.

Please note that you cannot access the link here, but will need to cut and paste it into your browser.

Koran-burning Aftermath: Afghanistan death toll rises

Sunday saw a day of violent protests in Afghanistan against the recent burning of a Koran at the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida.

Two police officers were killed, while around 30 people were injured in the demonstrations that included shouting anti-US slogans and the burning of an effigy of US President Barack Obama.

This violence followed on from the ugly massacre of seven UN workers in an attack on a compound in Mazar-i-Sharif on Friday, and brings the total of those killed in the Koran-burning aftermath to around 24.

The Koran was publicly burnt by Pastor Wayne Sapp under the watchful eye of the notorious Pastor Terry Jones, who gained international infamy late last year after threats to burn a copy of the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11.

Jones shows no remorse for the violence this Koran-burning has caused, and refuses to cancel a planned protest outside a mosque in Michigan on April 22.

“Our aim is to make an awareness of the radical element of Islam. Obviously it is terrible any time people are murdered or killed. I think that on the other hand, it shows the radical element of Islam,” Jones insisted.

US President Barack Obama has already condemned the destructive acts of Jones and his church.

“The desecration of any holy text, including the Koran, is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry,” Obama said in a statement released by the White House.

“However, to attack and kill innocent people in response is outrageous, and an affront to human decency dignity.”

The World Evangelical Alliance has also responded by both condemning the church’s actions and the violent responses.

“No matter how much we disagree and find abhorrent the actions of [Terry] Jones, responding in violence can never be justified,” said Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe, chief executive officer and secretary general of the World Evangelical Alliance.

The WEA urged Muslim leaders to call for an end to the violence and “explain … that the actions of this tiny extremist group who have burnt the Quran are absolutely condemned by Christians globally”.

We need more exorcists, says the Catholic Church

Exorcism is the main topic of a week-long conference being held this week in Rome under the Vatican’s authority, reports The Telegraph.

Experts are saying that the web has made it dangerously easy to access information on Devil-worshipping and the occult.

"The internet makes it much easier than in the past to find information about Satanism," stated Carlo Climati, a member of the Vatican university who specialises in the dangers posed to young people by Satanism.

"In just a few minutes you can contact Satanist groups and research occultism. The conference is not about how to become an exorcist. It's to share information about exorcism, Satanism and sects. It's to give help to families and priests. There is a particular risk for young people who are in difficulties or who are emotionally fragile," said Mr Climati.

The object of the Vatican-sponsored seminar was to investigate the phenomenon of Satanism with "seriousness and scientific rigour", avoiding a "superficial or sensational approach" he added.

The conference brought together over 60 Catholic clergy as well as doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers and youth workers to discuss how to combat the dangers of Devil-worship.

Organisers are convinced that the rise of Satan worship has grown dangerously over the last few years.

"There's been a revival," said Father Gabriele Nanni, a former exorcist and another speaker at the course.

Father Nanni said that although the number of genuine possessions is relatively small, "we must be on guard because occult and Satanist practices are spreading a great deal, in part with the help of the internet and new technologies that make it easier to access these rituals."

Although any priest could perform an exorcism, Vatican experts have urged their clergy to call in professional exorcists whenever "the moral certainty has been reached that the person is possessed."

Possessed behaviour could include radical and disturbing changes in the person's behaviour and voice, or an ability to garble in foreign languages or nonsensical gibberish.

Father Gabriele Amorth stated people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron, scream, dribble and slobber, utter blasphemies and have to be physically restrained.

Amorth also believes that the sex abuse scandals devastating the Church in the US, Ireland, Germany and other countries, are proof that the anti-Christ was waging a war against the Church.

(Image is Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican's official exorcist).

Obama says faith and prayer are key to his presidency

In an interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer, the US President Barack Obama said that he has been doing "a lot of praying" recently as he has faced difficult choices on Libya and other crises at home and abroad.

"I am praying that I'm making the best possible decisions, and that I've got the strength to serve the American people well," he admitted to Sawyer.

Obama has never shied away from sharing about the role faith plays in his life, despite the fact many have accused him of not truly following Christianity. Bizarrely enough, according to a 2010 poll conduced by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, one in five Americans incorrectly believes that Obama is actually a Muslim.

However, at the National Prayer Breakfast held in Washington last month, Obama shared how the shooting tragedy in Tucson, had deepened his faith and that the experience of fatherhood made him personally even more reliant on God.

"My prayers sometimes are general: Lord, give me the strength to meet the challenges of my office," he smiled. "Sometimes they're specific: Lord, give me patience as I watch Malia go to her first dance. Where there will be boys, Lord, have that skirt get longer as she travels to that dance."

The US president also said that,"My Christian faith ... has been a sustaining force for me over these last few years -- all the more so when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time. We are reminded that ultimately what matters is not what other people say about us but whether we're being true to our conscience and true to our God."

Rob Bell speaks of hurt, and affirms his belief in hell

Rob Bell has endured a tumultous few weeks after his new book, ‘Love Wins - A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived‘ raised a storm of controversy. The book, which has reached No 2 on the New York Best Sellers list, resulted in Bell being accused of a litany of 'heresies,' including not believing in an eternal hell, and universalism (that everyone will be saved at the end, whether they want it or not).

In a recent interview with Sally Quinn of The Washington Post, Bell responded unequivocally to a direct question posed by Quinn: If there is no hell, then why did Jesus die for our sins?

“I believe in hell now, I believe in hell when you die,” Bell asserted. “I believe God gives people the right to say no, to resist, to refuse, to reject, to cling to their sins, to cling to their version of their story.

“So the Bible, there’s a whole chapter in the book about hell, and I think we should take hell very seriously. I think it exists, and so, there being no hell isn’t something that I believe.”

Bell, who never claimed to not believe in hell in his book, rather stated that he struggles with the traditional teaching on heaven and hell because it seems contradictory that a loving God would send billions of people who never heard of Jesus and thus never had the chance to accept Jesus as their saviour to hell.

During the Washington Post interview, Quinn also questioned Bell about this, saying, “What if you are wrong about hell?”

“If, billions and billions and billions of people, God is going to torture them in hell forever – people who never heard about Jesus are going to suffer in eternal agony because they didn’t believe in the Jesus they never heard of – then at that point we will have far bigger problems than a book from a pastor from Grand Rapids,” responded Bell, who had earlier passionately asserted that he considered himself a “serious follower of Jesus.”

The Michigan megachurch pastor, who first rose to fame through his NOOMA videos, told Quinn of his hurt in being misunderstood, and also the concern he feels about how non-Christians perceive the way Christians have treated each other over his book during the last few weeks.

“To be honest with you, I am passionate about all the people out there who want to know Jesus, they want to know God, and they are sick of a system that is hung up on a bunch of things that have nothing to do with the love of God,” said a visibly emotional Bell. “They say, ‘If that is how you act, why would I ever want to know your Jesus. You are not even kind at a basic human level, let alone to people who are apparently on your team, so to speak. You crucify them. That’s what you do? Why would I want what you have?’

“So for me it’s about my friends and neighbors who want nothing to do with this, but are open to Jesus. And it’s a justice issue. They need to know the Good News.”

Interestingly enough, Bell did receive some support from an unexpected area this last week, as the U.K.-based Evangelical Alliance, the world’s oldest evangelical alliance, said that Bell apparently adopts a “wider hope” theology, which believes that God will ultimately save most people, even, perhaps, all people.

The Alliance then confirmed that it is open to “wider hope” for those who have never heard the Gospel, children who die in infancy (including the unborn), and those who have limited mental capacity.