Human Behavior, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 17, 2018

Stephen Hawking's Final Book Says There's 'No Possibility' of God in Our Universe

From his desk at Cambridge University and beyond, Stephen Hawking sent his mind spiraling into the deepest depths of black holes, radiating across the endless cosmos and swirling back billions of years to witness time's first breath. He viewed creation as a scientist, and when he was called to discuss...

Oct 22, 2018

Dead Sea Scroll Fragments in Museum of the Bible Are Fake

At least five of the 16 Dead Sea Scroll fragments in the Museum of the Bible are fakes, an independent study has concluded. The Museum of the Bible, which opened in Washington, D.C., last year, had been under scrutiny for publishing and displaying the texts despite their murky origins. The...

Nov 27, 2018

Earliest Depiction of Jesus Christ in Israel Discovered. Here's What It Shows.

Emma Maayan-Fanar was looking for shade from the desert sun when she saw the face of Jesus. The art historian from the University of Haifa in Israel had been studying crucifixes and other motifs on the stone lintels of the ancient churches and houses of the ruined city of Shivta...

Dec 3, 2018

This Ring Bears the Name of the Man Who Condemned Jesus to Death. Who Really Wore It?

A copper finger ring, dating back around 2,000 years, with an incised Greek inscription saying of Pilatus has been unearthed in the West Bank. The discovery of the ring has led to speculation that it may have belonged to Pontius Pilatus (also called Pontius Pilate), the Roman prefect of Judea...

Dec 25, 2018

10 Fascinating Biblical-Era Discoveries from 2018

2018 Biblical-Era Finds (Image credit: Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)With signs of human settlement dating back at least 10,000 years, the Holy Land is a fertile ground for archaeologists. Hardly a month seems to go by without constructions workers building a new road or housing development stumbling upon some evocative evidence...

Jan 3, 2019

Trump Calls Wall 'Moral' Because Vatican Has One. So What's Its History?

Any border wall between the United States and Mexico can't be immoral, President Trump said at a Cabinet meeting yesterday (Jan. 2), because the Vatican has one, too. When they say the wall’s immoral, well then you got to do something about the Vatican, because the Vatican has the biggest...

Feb 19, 2019

Customs Letter About a Long-Lost Suitcase Leads to Artifacts from Desert with Early 'Jesus' Painting

The ancient desert village of Shivta in southern Israel made headlines when archaeologists discovered a wall painting there that is thought to show the baptism of Jesus Christ, the earliest representation of Christ known in Israel. Now, they have found about 140 long-lost artifacts from the village, which showed up...

Feb 22, 2019

Biblical Archaeology: The Study of Biblical Sites & Artifacts

While the definition of biblical archaeology varies from scholar to scholar, it generally includes some combination of archaeology and biblical studies. The magazine Biblical Archaeology Review defines biblical archaeology as A branch of archaeology dealing with the archaeology of biblical lands that informs our understanding of the bible and/or the...

Mar 11, 2019

Who Was the Real King Herod?

King Herod, sometimes called Herod the Great (circa 74 to 4 B.C.) was a king of Judea who ruled the territory with Roman approval. While Judea was an independent kingdom it was under heavy Roman influence and Herod came to power with Roman support. The Bible depicts Herod as a...

Mar 27, 2019

7 Biblical Sites Ravaged by Modern-Day Looters

Biblical ruins (Image credit: Scott Peterson/Getty Images)Biblical sites draw interest from many people: archaeologists, historians, priests, rabbis, imams and many members of the general public. Sadly, these historical ruins from the time of Jesus also often attract looters, people who illegally excavate a site, often in hopes of selling what...

Mar 29, 2019

Judas Iscariot: The Mysterious Disciple Who Betrayed Jesus with a Kiss

Judas Iscariot is famous for being a disciple of Jesus who betrayed him in exchange for money. Of the 12 disciples of Jesus, only Peter gets more lines of coverage from the Gospel writers than does Judas, wrote William Klassen in his book Judas: Betrayer or Friend of Jesus? (Fortress...

Apr 15, 2019

Was King David Truly a Powerful King?

In the Hebrew Bible, King David is famous for slaying the Philistine giant Goliath and expanding Israel into a large kingdom centered in Jerusalem. However, archaeological evidence for King David is limited, and there is an ongoing debate among archaeologists and other scholars about the size of David's kingdom and...

Apr 16, 2019

'Holy Stairs' Opened for 1st Time in Nearly 300 Years. But Did Jesus Really Climb Them?

Over the past week, several news outlets have reported that the Holy Stairs — said to have been climbed by Jesus on his way to face trial — have been restored and reopened in Rome. Yes, the stairs are restored, the wooden casing covering them has been removed for the...

Apr 21, 2019

8 Archaeological Sites That Jesus May have Visited

Jesus travels (Image credit: Shutterstock)The Gospels claim that Jesus visited numerous sites across modern-day Israel, Palestine, Egypt and Lebanon. But how can we tell which accounts are real versus legend? To find out, archaeologists have excavated areas at various religious sites. Their discoveries provide valuable information about what these sites...

Jun 28, 2019

Archaeologists Discover Ancient Baptismal Font Hidden Inside Jesus' Traditional Birthplace

The Church of the Nativity — a World Heritage site believed to house the birthplace of Jesus in the West Bank city of Bethlehem — is apparently so holy that there are baptismal fonts coming out of the baptismal fonts. In a news conference earlier this week, Ziad al-Bandak, head...