UPGRADE The ancient world did not divide reality into natural and supernatural categories. That distinction belongs to a later way of thinking—one shaped by modern assumptions about a closed universe governed by impersonal forces....
Each year on Yom Kippur, two goats stood before the high priest in Jerusalem—one chosen “for the Lord,” the other designated “for Azazel,” the wilderness goat figure associated in early Jewish tradition with chaos,...
The Roman Empire was built on a foundation of power, rank, and humiliation. To keep order across vast territories, Rome relied on a system that shamed the weak and exalted the powerful. Public humiliation...
Subscribe now Ancient Corinth (Greek: Korinthos) needs to be understood from its geography. I had the great pleasure of visiting this site (December 2025) and was awestruck by the surrounding landscape. The city’s geographical...
My new book examines the divine warrior tradition in the ancient Near East cultures. Battles with giants and amazons. How the ancient world’s creation stories are based on combat myth as opposed to the...
On the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, within the shadow of Rome’s power, Jesus steps into a world shaped by empire. What follows is a revelation of what empire does to humanity—and...
We are living at a time when Western civilization and the church is collapsing under its own weight. Ugliness in public life can be seen everywhere—coarse speech, impolite interactions, corrupt institutions, violence celebrated in...
check out the amazing patterns between the Exodus story and Jesus’ journey to the cross.
Some people wonder why Jesus didn’t die on Yom Kippur. After all — that was the day for serious, willful sin. It’s a fair question. And the answer changes 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. When we only see...
Walking through the museums of Greece was a journey into the ancient world. An ancient world of stone at every turn. Standing in the Acropolis Museum and seeing the remnants of Athena towering over...