In the baking August of 111 CE, a middle-aged Roman bureaucrat named Pliny the Younger (c. 61–c. 113 CE) rounded the foot of the Peloponnese in suffocating heat, running late for the most important posting of his career. The emperor Trajan (r. 98–117 CE) had sent him east to govern Bithynia-Pontus, a wealthy, mismanaged province … Continue reading The Romans, the Christians, and a Death They Could Not Understand
Are the Arabs the Descendants of Ishmael?
Two roads to one question: what the texts say, and what the ground can show Few genealogical claims are repeated as confidently as this one: the Arabs are the children of Ishmael, and Ishmael is the son of Abraham. It is stated in Sunday-school lessons, Friday sermons, popular histories, and the opening pages of countless … Continue reading Are the Arabs the Descendants of Ishmael?
Daniel 11 and “Prophecy After the Event”
Biblical scholars have a Latin term for a certain kind of writing: vaticinium ex eventu, which simply means "prophecy after the event." The idea is straightforward. Instead of predicting the future, a writer describes things that have already happened but frames them as if a figure from long ago were foreseeing them. Done well, it … Continue reading Daniel 11 and “Prophecy After the Event”
The Thirteenth Apostle
Constantine murdered his son, his wife, and his rivals; he was baptized only as he lay dying; and he reshaped Christianity more deeply than anyone since its founders—for reasons of state. The church made him a saint and, in the same breath, taught itself to forget how much of the faith he built. Ask a … Continue reading The Thirteenth Apostle
The Tower and the Gallows: Haman, Pharaoh, and the Archetype Behind a Name
Two men are given the same kind of assignment: build something tall. The first is told by his master to fire bricks of clay and raise a tower so high that its owner can climb up and look at the God of Moses. The second is told by his wife and his friends to put … Continue reading The Tower and the Gallows: Haman, Pharaoh, and the Archetype Behind a Name
The Death-Penalty Fatwas of Ibn Taymiyyah
Ibn Taymiyyah is one of the most influential—and controversial—figures in the history of Sunni Islam. A medieval jurist and theologian of the Ḥanbalī school, he became famous for his attacks on theological speculation, saint veneration, shrine practices, and what he regarded as religious innovations. Centuries after his death, his writings would become enormously important to … Continue reading The Death-Penalty Fatwas of Ibn Taymiyyah
The Missing Body: Disappearance as Apotheosis in the Ancient World
When a great man's corpse could not be produced, the ancient Mediterranean did not conclude that it had been mislaid. It concluded that he had been taken. A body that vanished was a body that had been received among the gods, and the absence itself served as the proof. This was not a stray superstition … Continue reading The Missing Body: Disappearance as Apotheosis in the Ancient World
Does the Quran Know Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac? Thirty Linguistic Signs
Adapted from a video presentation. Each section links to its place in the original talk. (Watch on YouTube) Introduction ▶ 00:00 Can it be shown that the Quran knows Hebrew? This article walks through about thirty examples in which the Quran's Arabic seems to reflect Hebrew, Aramaic, or Syriac. Because these are all Semitic languages, … Continue reading Does the Quran Know Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac? Thirty Linguistic Signs
When a Law Is Not a Law: Cicero, the natural-law tradition, and the Quran’s higher standard
There is a moment in Cicero's On the Laws where the old lawyer stops arguing like a lawyer and starts arguing like a physician. He has been asked, in effect, the most dangerous question anyone can ask a legal system: if a rule is passed correctly, by the right people, with the right stamps and … Continue reading When a Law Is Not a Law: Cicero, the natural-law tradition, and the Quran’s higher standard
Moses Did Not Receive the Torah (Quran vs. Hadith)
Ask most people—Muslim or otherwise—what book God gave Moses, and the answer comes back instantly: the Torah. It is treated as settled. Yet when you actually search the Quran for that claim, it is not there. The Quran never says the Torah (al-Tawrat, التوراة) was handed to Moses. What Moses received is named with different … Continue reading Moses Did Not Receive the Torah (Quran vs. Hadith)
