Bible Review, August 2003
Features
David and Joab
United by ambition
Embedded in the biblical account of David’s rise to power as king of Israel is a parallel succession story—that of Joab. As the youthful David struggles against Saul, Israel’s first king, Joab fights beside him. When David secures the throne and becomes king, Joab is made commander-in-chief...Read more ›
The True Cross
Separating myth from history
In the days of Constantine the Great, the cross on which Jesus died was “rediscovered” in Jerusalem. Tradition gives Constantine’s mother, Helena, full credit for the find. Today, visitors to Jerusalem are shown the very spot, in a cistern beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where...Read more ›
The Chapel of the True Cross
Restored
Piero della Francesca: The Legend of the True Cross in the Church of San Francesco in Arezzo Edited by Anna Maria Maetzke and Carlo Bertelli (Milan, Italy: Skira, 2000; distributed in the U.S. by Rizzoli [www.rizzoliusa.com]) 340 pages, 230 color...Read more ›
Did Ancient Jews Missionize
Was ancient Judaism a missionary religion? Well, it depends on what you mean by “missionary.” In one sense—say, in contrast to Christianity—Judaism, with one exception of short duration, never was. From earliest times Christianity saw the propagation of its faith as one of its central tenets. Early...Read more ›
Why God Has So Many Names
When the prophet Jonah, on a ship in the Mediterranean, was asked by his fellow travelers who he was, he answered: “I am a Hebrew. I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (Jonah...Read more ›