history

Evangelicals Flock to Saudi Arabia to See Biblical Sites, Search for Mt. Sinai

Evangelicals Flock to Saudi Arabia to See Biblical Sites, Search for Mt. Sinai

Saudi Arabia’s decision in 2019 to open its borders to tourists has led to a surprising number of evangelical Christians entering the country in search of biblical sites, according to a New York Times report.

Archeology Continues to Confirm Biblical Record

Archeology Continues to Confirm Biblical Record

New evidence reports Nathan Steinmeyer of the Biblical Archaeology Society is confirming the biblical description of the kingdom of Judah as it existed in King David’s time. This is significant, according to Steinmeyer, because “[d]espite King David’s prominence in the Hebrew Bible, little archaeological evidence has been directly linked to the early years of the Kingdom of Judah.” Because of this apparent discrepancy between the archeological record and the biblical description of the region during the 10th century B.C., “some scholars have argued that Judah only became a developed polity in the ninth or even eighth-century B.C.E.”

'Our Country’s Second Independence Day': Three Steps Toward Racial Justice and 'Enormous Joy'

'Our Country’s Second Independence Day': Three Steps Toward Racial Justice and 'Enormous Joy'

According to the Smithsonian Institution, “Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day.” On this day in 1865, some two thousand Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, where they announced that the more than two hundred and fifty thousand enslaved black people in the state were free by executive decree. The day became known as “Juneteenth” by the newly freed people in Texas and eventually became a federal holiday.

Author of 'Onward, Christian Soldiers' Made History-Changing Contributions in Multiple Fields

Author of 'Onward, Christian Soldiers' Made History-Changing Contributions in Multiple Fields

On June 5, 1865, Anglican priest and polymath Sabine Baring-Gould wrote the processional hymn, "Onward, Christian Soldiers." The hymn was originally written for children walking to Horbury St. Peter’s Church near Wakefield in Yorkshire, England. Far from the cultural stereotype that the hymn earned Baring-Gould— that of a militant, narrow-minded clergyman fearful of and fighting against new knowledge— he actually led an impressive life, remaining keenly inquisitive about the world God has made.

Setting the Facts Straight about Constantine

Setting the Facts Straight about Constantine

On this day in A.D. 337, Emperor Constantine died. Many Christians think that Constantine was perhaps the worst thing to happen to the Church. They believe he made Christianity the imperial religion, thus leading the Church to compromise with pagan culture, marrying it to state power, and derailing the spread of the Gospel. The Church, they argue, was better off as a persecuted minority. After all, didn’t the Church father Tertullian tell us that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church?

Archaeologists Find 2,000-Year-Old Receipt on the City of David’s Pilgrimage Road

Archaeologists Find 2,000-Year-Old Receipt on the City of David’s Pilgrimage Road

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has found an ancient receipt from about 2,000 years ago on the City of David's Pilgrimage Road in Jerusalem.

The Historic Connection Between Sierra Leone and William Wilberforce

The Historic Connection Between Sierra Leone and William Wilberforce

The 2023 Wilberforce Award recipient is Shodankeh Johnson, a pastor and church planter in Sierra Leone. The award was named after William Wilberforce, whose work as an English politician led to the abolishment of slavery in 1833 in the British Empire. There is an incredible link between Wilberforce and the role Shodankeh’s Sierra Leone played in freeing slaves.

1,500-Year-Old New Testament Fragment Uncovered: ‘Total Agreement’ with the Bible

1,500-Year-Old New Testament Fragment Uncovered: ‘Total Agreement’ with the Bible

Grigory Kessel of the Austrian Academy of Sciences used ultraviolet photography to read text that had been written on parchment in the sixth century but erased and reused centuries later.