Bible Review, August 2001
Features
To Be Continued…
The Many Endings of the Gospel of Mark
Francis Ford Coppola filmed two endings for Apocalypse Now, and John Fowles’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman offers a choice of endings. But nothing quite matches the last chapter of the Gospel of Mark for variety. At least nine versions of the ending of Mark...Read more ›
Reversal of Fortune
Rahab & Achan: the Israelite & the Canaanite
Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute, plays an essential part in Israel’s successful conquest of Jericho. The Israelite Achan, a member of the prestigious tribe of Judah, is to blame for Israel’s subsequent failure to capture Ai. Why is a Canaanite prostitute portrayed so positively while a prominent Israelite...Read more ›
Whose Earrings Did Jacob Bury?
When the patriarch Jacob returns to Canaan with his family after a 20-year sojourn with his uncle Laban, God instructs him to go to Bethel and build an altar (Genesis 35:1). Jacob immediately tells his entourage to rid themselves of the alien gods in...Read more ›
Adam Meets the Evil Archon
The Biblical Roots of a Persian Religion
The first world religion wasn’t Judaism, Christianity or Islam. It was Manichaeism. Today, even the name of this long-dead religion is unfamiliar. But its foundation story will not be—or at least not entirely. For here, Adam, Eve and the other beloved characters of Genesis are woven into...Read more ›