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Based on statements that he was a young man 20 years after Nero died, it’s believed Roman historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, was born around 69 AD and died in 122 AD.

A close friend of Pliny the Younger, Suetonius eventually became the personal secretary of Emperor Hadrian. According to one source, he was dismissed after having an affair with the emperor’s wife.

Suetonius wrote several books before his death, but only one De Vita Caesarum, The Life of the Twelve Caesars, remains with us today. Though the first few pages are missing it provides a breakdown of the lives of Rome’s first 12 Caesars from Julius Caesar to Domitian.

While discussing the reign of Rome’s fifth emperor Claudius, who ruled between 41 AD and 54 AD, Suetonius briefly references Christ:

“Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus [Christ],​ he expelled them from Rome.”

Many believe that Chrestus is none other than a phonetic misspelling of the Latin word “Christus” (Christ). Though it was incorrect, the Chrestus spelling was widely used by others including Christian writers.

According to Suetonius, Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome because of disturbances caused by the spread of Christianity in Rome.

Suetonius seems to lay the blame on the Christians who were converting many Jews to the faith. But that wasn’t the problem, it was the Jewish leaders’ reaction to these conversions that was the source of the disturbances.

Curiously the Bible also records this same expulsion.

In his history of the early church in the book of Acts, Luke writes:

After these events Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, (Acts 18:-1-2 NASV)

Though both Aquilla and Priscilla were Jews, they had both converted to Christianity. The fact that they chose to leave reveals that the Romans treated Christianity as part of Judaism.

Peter may also be referring to this expulsion in his first letter, writing:

From Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those temporarily residing abroad (in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia) who are chosen (1 Peter 1:1 NET)

The Greek word translated as ‘abroad’ is ‘diaspora,’ which may be a reference to the expulsion of Christians from Rome.

It wasn’t until the start of the second century that Rome finally recognized that Christianity and Judaism were two separate religions.

Since, they were no longer lumped together, this resulted in Rome persecuting Christians, while not targeting the Jews at the same time, or visa versa.

ESPAÑOL: La inusual descripción del antiguo Talmud babilónico de la crucifixión de Cristo

The Babylonian Talmud is over 30 volumes in size. It is a compilation of Jewish oral traditions and Old Testament commentaries passed down by the orthodox Jews over the past 2,500 years. It is the primary source of Jewish theology and interpretation of the law. 

In one passage, it actually refers to the crucifixion of Christ, stating:

On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, “He is going forth to be stoned because he has practised sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Anyone who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.” But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover. — Sanhedrin 43a, Babylonian Talmud (Soncino Edition)

Despite a handful of dissenters, most scholars believe Yeshu is simply a shortened version of Yeshua, the Hebrew name for Jesus. His execution on the eve of the Passover, also fits perfectly with Christ’s crucifixion. In fact other English versions of the Babylonian Talmud translate Yeshu as simply Jesus Christ.

So why did the Talmud use the word hanged to describe Christ’s crucifixion? It did so because Deuteronomy 21:22-23 says a curse was put on anyone who was hanged on a tree.

“Now if a person has committed a sin carrying a sentence of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,… (for he who is hanged is cursed of God).

By using this specific word, the Talmud was stating that God had cursed Jesus through this method of execution.

Luke also used the word hanging to describe the crucifixion in chapter 23:39 and curiously, so did the Apostle Paul. But he adds in Galatians 3:13, that the curse connected with hanging on a tree became a blessing.

Since Jesus was crucified, the Lord’s death broke the curses associated with the law.

The Talmud then gave two reasons as to why Jesus was executed, sorcery and enticing people into apostasy. 

This fits the Biblical narrative.

First, the pharisees tried to discredit Christ by suggesting He was casting out demons through a more powerful satanic being called Beelzebub in Matthew 9:34. In doing so, they essentially accused Jesus of sorcery.

Secondly, Matthew adds that the Jewish leaders arrested Jesus while He was alone in the garden with His disciples. This was over fears a public arrest would cause a riot because of Christ’s growing popularity (Matthew 26:3-5).

But then the Talmud adds that 40 days before Christ’s crucifixion, heralds were sent out asking people to give their reasons on why Jesus should not be stoned for blasphemy. The Talmud says no one came to Christ’s defence.

While this particular event is not mentioned in the Bible, John 10 tells us the Jews attempted to stone Christ for blasphemy during the feast of Hanukkah when Jesus said quote “The Father and Ia are one.” But the Lord slipped away.

But something similar took place at Christ’s crucifixion. In Matthew 27:15, we are told that as part of the Passover celebration, the Roman governor traditionally released one Jewish prisoner.

Realizing Jesus was innocent of any crimes worthy of death, Pontius Pilate asked the crowd if he should release Jesus the Messiah or a known criminal Jesus Barabbas.

Spurred on by the Chief priests and the elders, nobody defended Christ and the crowd called for Barabbas’ release and Christ’s crucifixion in Matthew 27:20-21.

ESPAÑOL: ¿Fue la descripción de Jesús por parte de Josefo una declaración entusiasta o una admisión a regañadientes?

One of the more compelling statements by ancient historians on the existence of Jesus was made by Josephus, a Jewish General and historian who died in 100 AD.

In his book, Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus wrote:

“And in this time, there was a certain Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man, for he was a doer of incredible deeds, a teacher of men who receive truisms with pleasure. And he brought over many from among the Jews and many from among the Greeks. He was [thought to be] the Christ. And, when Pilate had condemned him to the cross at the accusation of the first men among us, those who at first were devoted to him did not cease to be so, for on the third day it seemed to them that he was alive again given that the divine prophets had spoken such things and thousands of other wonderful things about him. And up till now, the tribe of Christians, who were named from him, has not disappeared.“

Josephus wrote this passage as part of his historical description of King Herod. This included Jesus’ crucifixion at the hand of Pilate.

In this passage, the historian also described Jesus performing miracles, rising from the dead and how the Old Testament prophets spoke of the Messiah’s arrival.

Many have tried to discredit this section stating that an orthodox Jew would not have written such a glowing report about Christ.

Since, Josephus described Jesus in another passage, which is not questioned, the critics acknowledge that he undoubtedly wrote something about Christ in relation to Herod. But they insist it was later embellished by Christians.

However, in his book, Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ, T.C. Schmidt argues that Josephus’ description was not as glowing as it appears at first glance.

He noted that ancient Christian writers didn’t rave about Josephus’ description as many do today. This suggests it wasn’t viewed as positively.

In an article for The Gospel Coalition, Schmidt explains why.

Josephus described Jesus as ‘being a doer of incredible deeds.” But the Greek word that Josephus used is ‘paradoxa’. It is not only rarely used for describing miracles, it also raises questions.

It is found only once in the New Testament. It described the miracle that took place when Jesus healed the lame man lowered down through a hole in the roof of the home where Jesus was staying.

The amazed people proclaimed, “We have seen a paradoxa” (Luke 5:26).

Schmidt points out that this word paradoxa can be used both positively and negatively. For example, the NASB translates it as extraordinary miracle, but other versions, such as New King James translate it as strange.

While there is no doubt a healing took place, the use of ‘paradoxa’ suggests that Jews were not entirely convinced about the source of the miracle.

Schmidt points out that Josephus used this same Greek word, paradoxa, to describe the miracles that took place at the hands of the Egyptian magicians in Moses’ confrontation with the Pharaoh.

“Paradoxa” acknowledges the miracles, but questions their source. In this instance, it was the result of sorcery or the demonic.

By using the same word to describe the healing, Josephus was questioning the source of the Lord’s power.

In the Gospels, the Jewish leaders did exactly the same thing. The Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by a more powerful evil spirit (Matthew 12:22-30). They believed that the source of Jesus’ unusual powers was not God, but rather the demonic realm.

Regarding Christ’ resurrection from the dead, Josephus wrote that it “seemed to them” (the disciples) that it had happened. This was not an absolute declaration of Christ’s resurrection, but falls in line with the Jewish explanation.

When the disciples proclaimed that Jesus had risen from the dead, the Jewish leaders bribed the men guarding the tomb to say that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body. As a result, it would only seem to others that He risen from the dead (Matthew 28:11–15).

The counter to that accusation is would the disciples be willing to die for their faith in the risen Christ if they had stolen the body?

Josephus also used ‘seemed to them’ in relation to the disciples’ belief that Jesus fulfilled Old Testament Messianic prophecy.

Josephus substantiated the Gospel writers presentation of the Christ’s ministry and resurrection. But instead of being a glowing presentation as the critics claim, it is more of grudging admission.

This in turn confirms its authenticity.

ESPAÑOL: Cuando Dios usó a una cristiana común y corriente para hablarle al presidente de la Unión Soviética

One of the biggest problems facing the church today is our obsession with Christian superstars. We have TV evangelists and mega pastors, but I believe that the Holy Spirit wants to use ordinary believers, like you and me, in powerful ways.

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me an article about a story published by Crescendo Magazine in 1990 on how God powerfully used a Finish music student Päivyt Rajamäki.

In October 1989, then Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev was scheduled to visit Finland.

When Päivyt heard the news the Holy Spirit said ‘You absolutely must meet him and say something to him!’

Over the next few days, the urge continued, but she had no idea what she would say to Gorbachev.

When Päivyt, who was studying violin at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, heard that Gorbachev was visiting Oulu university, she booked a flight.

When she arrived, Päivyt easily made it through the university’s security, and went to the reading area in the library. 

Päivyt who can read Russian, opened the Russian Bible she had brought along at the last minute and began reading it.

There were only 20 people in the room, when Gorbachev entered along with his wife Raisa, the Finnish president and others. 

The Soviet President immediately focused on Päivyt. When he saw her reading a Russian Bible, Gorbachev spoke to her in Russian.

At that moment, the Holy Spirit gave Päivyt the words to speak fulfilling Christ’s promise in Luke 12:12 that the Holy Spirit would give His disciples the words to speak in the hour they needed them. 

She thanked Gorbachev for Glasnost, which brought freedom to Russian Christians as well as other Russians.

She then asked him what he thought about the Bible and would he allow Bibles to be shipped into Russia. Gorbachev surprised Päivyt by stating that he was considering relaxing religious restrictions.

Päivyt then asked if she could send a Russian Bible, to Gorbachev’s wife Raisa. She responded positively.

The news of this brief conversation was published in newspapers across the Soviet Union.  

When Päivyt sent a beautifully bound Russian Bible to Raisa, it opened the doors for Bibles to be shipped across the Soviet Union. If the president’s wife could get one, then anyone could.

It reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus in Acts 9. After being blinded in his encounter with the risen Christ, Paul went to a home in Damascus unsure of what was happening.

The Holy Spirit spoke to a man named Ananias urging him to visit Paul. He had no big titles, Ananias was described simply as being a disciple. He was told to lay hands on Paul to heal him of his blindness. 

After initially resisting, Ananias obeyed. He laid hands on Paul. Healed him and filled him with the Holy Spirit. Though we never hear of Ananias again, the Apostle Paul changed the world.

We are ordinary believers filled with an extraordinary Holy Spirit!

The Jewish Babylonian Talmud made an incredible admission about Jesus Christ’s arrival in the first century.

Composed in the fifth century AD by orthodox Jews, it is a written compilation of Jewish traditions that had been passed down through the centuries.

The Rabbis consider it as one of the most important sources of Jewish law and commentary. 

Though the Talmud never acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah, it stated that a strange thing happened in the Temple coinciding with Jesus’ arrival.

The Talmud writes:

“The Sages taught: During the tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, the lot for God always arose in the High Priest’s right hand; after his death, it occurred only occasionally; but during the forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, the lot for God did not arise in the High Priest’s right hand at all.”

This strange event started taking place 40 years prior to the destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Romans in 70 AD. 

This means it took place between 30 AD and 70 AD. This fits with the start of Christ’s ministry. Most scholars believe Jesus was crucified in 30 AD or possibly 33 AD. 

One of the ceremonies that the High Priest conducted in the temple as part of Yon Kippur was the casting of lots for two goats mentioned in Leviticus 16. One lot would fall to a goat that would be for the Lord and sacrificed. The second lot would designate the scapegoat that would carry the sins of Israel into the wilderness of Azazel.

It was considered a good omen if the lot for the Lord came up in the High Priest’s right hand. Mathematically this had a 50-50 chance of happening as it occasionally did prior to 30 AD. 

But between 30 AD and 70 AD, the lot for the Lord ominously fell to the left hand for 40 consecutive years.    

According to Grok, the chances of this occurring were one in 1.1 trillion. If you were flipping a coin and wanted heads to come up 40 times in a row, you would need to flip it once per second, day and night, for 70,000 years. 

So there was obviously some Divine intervention in the casting of those lots in the Temple.

So what was behind this ominous occurrence?

The answer is found in the Gospel of John. 

After Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple, he was confronted by the Jewish leaders. They asked for a sign that He was sent from God. 

Jesus replied that if they destroyed the temple, then in three days it would be raised up again in John 2:19. The leaders mocked Christ stating it took 46 years to build the temple.

But John adds this footnote in verse 21 that Jesus was speaking about the temple of His body.

Jesus had replaced the Temple and according to the Babylonian Talmud it was confirmed in a very ominous way.

ESPAÑOL: ¿Por qué Pablo ignoró la evidencia más convincente de la resurrección de Cristo?

Jesus’ Resurrection is the key to our Christian faith. As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 15:4, “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

So the Apostle spent several verses in chapter 15 providing evidence of the resurrection. But in the process Paul missed the most compelling argument, proving it was not a fabrication.

This is because the first people to discover the empty tomb and to see the risen Christ were women.

Mark writes in chapter 16:1, that when Mary Magdalene, Salome and Mary the mother of James went to Jesus’ body with spices, they found the the stone rolled away and Christ’s body missing

An angel told them that Jesus had risen from the dead in verse 6.

The women rushed back to tell Peter and John what had happened.

The two men along with Mary Magdalene ran to the tomb. After arriving, Peter and John went inside and saw it was empty in  (John 20:4-8).

When Peter and John left, Mary stayed behind. John says she wept.

But she became the first person to encounter the resurrected Christ. Initially, Mary thought Jesus was the gardener and asked if He had removed Christ’s body (John 20:14-19).

When Jesus said, “Mary!”, she realized this was Christ and grabbed onto Him. The Lord then told her to stop clinging, because He had not yet ascended. 

Jesus then told Mary to go tell the Apostles. Matthew intimates that other women also saw the resurrected Christ before the men.

Yet, when Paul provided his evidence on Christ’s resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, he makes no mention of these women. He didn’t say that the Lord first appeared to Cephas or Peter only that the Lord quote “appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” He then refers to the 500 brothers and sisters who saw the resurrected Christ. Paul adds that many of them were still alive at that time.

Paul then says that Jesus appeared to James, the Lord’s brother, and then last of all, him.

So, why was the women’s testimony ignored? 

Well there was a a good reason. At this time, women were rarely used as witnesses to testify in court. When they did, their testimony was considered to be worth far less than a man’s.

Paul ignored the women’s testimony because it would have been irrelevant to his readers.

But it shows us that if the Gospel writers were fabricating this story, they would ensured that men were the first to see the empty tomb and the risen Christ, to give it more credibility. 

I don’t know why Jesus appeared to Mary first. Maybe the Lord was responding to her tears? Maybe, Jesus was making a point that He was not a respecter of persons? Whatever the case, in its own strange way, the women’s testimony validated the Resurrection story.

The tomb was empty. Jesus had risen.

Hi my name is Dean. In this podcast I want to talk about politics in the church. I can’t remember a time, when politics has become so dominant and divisive in our culture. It is  everywhere and infecting everything 

But before I do that, I need to provides some disclaimers.

First I am a conservative.

Secondly, during my career, I actually worked for a right leaning political party. While I was considering the job offer, my wife gave me some advice that ultimately proved to be true. She said, the job will require a bit of my soul, meaning you will end up defending the undependable, and I did.

Finally, after I left the political party, I worked with a non profit that was heavily involved in politics for nearly three decades. So politics has been a major focus of my working life.

So let’s talk about politics in the church.

A few months ago, my wife met with some Christian women. This took place a few weeks after the death of Charlie Kirk.

Charlie was a Christian, who was actively involved in politics. He was assassinated in September 2025, while addressing university students in Utah.

As the women enjoyed a time of fellowship, there had been no mention of politics.

But then one lady started talking about Charlie Kirk. She is a sincere, genuine believer actively involved in her church.

She described Kirk and those linked with him as racists and misogynists. 

But other Christians hold the opposite view. Shortly after Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September 2025, CBN published an article entitled, “Charlie Kirk is a martyr: Christian Leaders react to stunning assassination”.

These represent two polarized opinions in the church about the same man. 

I also know Christians who believe US President Donald Trump is the Antichrist. They compare the attempted assassination of Trump, where he was hit by a bullet in the ear to Revelation’s description of the Antichrist surviving a head wound in Revelation 13:3-4.

This opinion is so widespread, that articles have even appeared on Christian websites countering these claims, such as a Charisma News article entitled, “Donald Trump as the Antichrist: Separating Fact from Fiction”.

Then on the other side of the coin, there are articles comparing Trump to the Persian King Cyrus, who God called His shepherd in Isaiah 44:28.

Obviously, Trump can’t be both the antichrist and Jehovah’s Shepherd.

But people in the church hold these contradictory opinions.

Politics is divisive and increasingly its tentacles are infiltrating the church.

In a recent op-ed for the Christian Post, Mark Creech described a sad situation where politics ended a long standing Christian friendship:

“Recently, a man informed a friend of mine — by text message — that he could no longer maintain a friendship with him because of his “Republican values,” which he described as “ungodly.” He insisted he bore no hatred, yet declared the relationship effectively over. In just a few lines on a phone screen, a friendship ended. It was heartbreaking, but something increasingly common. It also reveals the real nature of our national divide.”

It’s disturbing that Christians are breaking fellowship because of politics. It tells us that sometimes, politics is more important than faith.

So how should Christians respond to politics in the Church?

As Jesus gathered His disciples, the Lord faced a similar problem.

Christ’s group of 12 disciple had men who were on the opposite extremes of the political spectrum of that day.

On one hand Jesus had Matthew who worked as a Roman tax collector. According to Mark 2:14, he was probably from the priestly tribe of Levi.

As a Jew working for Rome, Matthew would have been looked upon as a traitor because he had sold out to Rome. He would have been despised. Some Jews even considered it a sin to be found in the presence of Tax collectors as we read in Matthew 9:10-11.

Tax collectors were usually wealth, as they often skimmed money off the top. Whether Matthew did this we don’t know. But we do know that Matthew was rich, because he threw a lavish banquet to celebrate his decision to leave his job and follow Christ in Luke 5:29.

But in Mark 3:18, we read that within Jesus’ band of disciples, there was another man who was on the opposite side of the political spectrum, Simon the Zealot.

While Rome considered Zealots as terrorist, many Jews looked upon them as freedom fighters. The Zealots were a Jewish political movement dedicated to throwing off the Roman yoke, by force if necessary.

It was the Zealots who helped lead the rebellion that successfully drove the Romans out of Jerusalem in 66 AD. The Romans counter attacked in 70 AD sacking Jerusalem and destroying the Jewish Temple.

Within the Zealots, there were the Sicarii, a group of assassins. They carried daggers called sicae hidden in their cloaks, They would infiltrate large crowds to covertly knife Romans and their Jewish collaborators and and then quickly fade away in the crowd as part of their escape.

We have no way of knowing if Simon was a Sicarii, but as a Zealot, he would have sympathized with them. Matthew would have been a legitimate target for assassination.

Since Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing, God purposefully led Jesus to choose both of these men. 

Now the disciples were not born with halos over their heads as medieval paintings often portrayed them. They were flesh and blood like the rest of us.

The Lord was undoubtedly fully aware of the political tensions brewing within His small band.

I have no doubt in the early days, there were a few heated political discussions, snide remarks and even some back stabbing, metaphorically.

I think we see hints of this political tension in Luke’s description of the 12 apostles in chapter 6 verses 13 and 14. We read that Simon was called “the Zealot.”

While, this nick name distinguished him from Simon Peter, it also tells us that the Zealot was vocal about his political beliefs.

The Zealot and the former Tax collector represented the two opposite political extremes. 

I suspect the rest of the disciples probably fell somewhere in the middle.

The political division was real and Jesus actually addressed this brewing tension in one of His earliest sermons known as the sermon on the mount.

Though Jesus spoke this sermon to a large crowd, Luke writes that just before the Lord started speaking he turned quote “His gaze on the disciples” Luke 6:20.

Though this sermon was delivered to the whole crowd, it was clearly directed at Christ’s 12 disciples and I suspect the political divisions surfacing within their group.

With this political tension as the back drop let’s take a second look at what Christ said.

First in Matthew 5:22-24, Jesus told them that anyone who is angry with his brother, insults or calls him a fool will answer for their words. He then added they needed to be reconciled with their brother.

Why would Jesus specifically refer to someone calling another fool. It feels oddly specific.

Was Simon the Zealot calling Matthew a fool for collaborating with the Romans?

Equally important, are you and I guilty of the same thing? Well, speaking for myself, I may need to go to confession, even though I am not Catholic.

Secondly, in Matthew 5:38-39, Jesus told His disciples that they must not retaliate against their enemy. If they slap you on the one cheek, then offer them your other cheek, Jesus said. 

I suspect many of the disciples were disgusted with Matthew. Simon in particular may have been thinking some not so nice thoughts about Matthew.

I have wondered at times, if Jesus was hoping that all His band of merry men would still be alive after six months. You may think that is outrageous, but wasn’t one of Christ’s disciples guilty of helping the High Priest and his cohorts crucify Christ. 

Thirdly in Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus told the disciples that they must love and forgive their enemies and to even pray for them. 

But notice how Jesus gave a twist of the knife in verse 46, when he says that even tax collectors love those who love them.

Without mentioning any names, this was undoubtedly a not so subtle reference to Matthew and how the disciples including Simon must love their enemy even if they were former tax collectors.

Fourthly, in Matthew 6:12, Jesus told them that they needed to forgive their debtors. 

In Luke 19, we are told the story of Zaacheus another Jewish Tax collector who was described as being wealthy. After his conversion to Christ he promised to return four times the amount to anyone he cheated. 

From Zaacheus’ testimony it was obvious he overcharged when collecting taxes, which was typical of tax collectors of that time. If Matthew had done the same, he needed to be forgiven. 

Finally towards the end of His sermon in Matthew 7:1-3, Jesus delivered His coup d’etat. He told His disciples not to judge because when you judge, you are guilty of the same thing. 

This is of course one of the common sins of the politically motivated believer. We find it so easy to judge those on the opposite side of the political spectrum.

By judging others for their political motivations reveals that we are politically motivated as well. We are guilty of the same thing.

While the Sermon on the Mount has practical advice for all believers, I suspect huge chunks of it were specifically centred on the political divisions among the Lord’s disciples.

This advice if very much applicable today as the political rhetoric heats up. 

In order to heal the political divide, we must forgive. We must quit judging.

But equally importantly, we must set aside our political beliefs for the sake of the Kingdom of God. 

Don’t bring your personal political beliefs to the church.

Jesus wants to draw all men to himself to himself, the Zealots and the Roman collaborators, the Republicans and the Democrats. The Conservatives and the Liberals.

Can you love someone in the church who voted differently than you, or is politics more important?

Thanks for joining me on this podcast, and I will catch you again.

ESPAÑOL: ¿Mencionan los registros asirios la visita de Jonás a la ciudad de Nínive?

Jonah is best known for being swallowed by a large fish or whale for refusing to call Nineveh to repentance. But after being vomited up on a beach along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Jonah headed inland to Nineveh where the whole city responded to Jonah’s call to repent.

Some claim that there is no archaeological evidence that this event took place. But up until Nineveh’s discovery in the mid-1800s, the skeptics didn’t even believe the city existed even though it was mentioned nearly 20 times in the Bible.

But Jonah’s account revealed some familiarity with Nineveh. 
Jonah 3:3 describes Nineveh as an “exceedingly great city”. It took Jonah three days to walk through the city while calling its citizens to repent.

Writing on the discovery of Nineveh, archaeologist Sir Austen Layard states it was one of the ancient world’s largest cities and it would have taken several days to walk around it. 

They also found several Dagan idols in the city. Dagan’s consort just happened to be the fish goddess, Nanshe, so Jonah’s peculiar arrival would have made quite a splash on the Assyrians. 

But in an article entitled “Jonah in Nineveh” written over a century ago in 1892 for the Journal of Biblical Literature, Professor Henry Clay Trumbull believes there is archaeological evidence of Jonah’s brief ministry in Nineveh.

In 612 BC Babylon conquered Assyria and the City of Nineveh. In 300 BC, a Babylonian priest by the name of Berosus published three books on the History of Babylon. This included citing Assyria documents from the now long lost official records of Babylon.

Though Berosus’ books are lost they were quoted by other historians including Greek historian Apollodorus who died in 120 BC and Josephus, a Jewish historian, who died in 100 AD. In fact, Josephus claimed to have copies of Berosus’ three books.

For his books, Berosus needed to translate the Assyrian documents into Greek. In doing so he translated the name of an ancient Assyrian sea god as “Oannes.” He reported that this being emerged from the sea and brought wisdom to the people. Though some writers believe this was a reference to a Babylonian water god, Professor Trumbull wasn’t so sure. 

The Greek word Oannes that Berosus used for the Assyrian god’s name is only one letter off “Ioannes” with the letter ‘I’ added at the beginning used by the Greek Septuagint for the name of the prophet Jonah. The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament written between 300 BC and 200 BC.

The New Testament writers also used “Ioannes” for the name of Jonah.

After consulting with Assyrian specialist Dr. Herman Hilprecht, Trumbull found that the Assyrian vocabulary had no letter equivalent for “J.” 

If Berosus was trying to create the Greek equivalent of the Assyrian name for Jonah, Oannes would have certainly worked.

As for Oannes divine qualities, Professor Trumbull pointed out that the Bible tells us that Jonah “spoke the word of the Lord to the Assyrians.”

By the city’s response, they looked upon Jonah as a Divine Messenger, so it wouldn’t have been a big step to consider Jonah as being Divine as well.

ESPAÑOL: Por qué algunas religiones creen en ovnis y extraterrestres

In his book, Religions and Extraterrestrial Life published in 2014, Vanderbilt University Astronomer David Weintraub revealed the results of a poll he conducted on beliefs in Aliens and UFOs by different religious groups.

Now these numbers are dated, because there has been a dramatic surge in the belief in aliens in recent years. But nevertheless his poll showcased the significant differences in Alien beliefs among different religions.

Muslims led the pack with 44% stating they believed in aliens.

Jews were third at 37%, Hindus 36% and Christians came in last with only 32% stating they believed in aliens.

Weintraub attributed the high rate of belief in UFOs among Muslims to passages in the Qu’ran, such as chapter 21 verse 30 and chapter 42 verse 29, that speak of living beings being dispersed on other planets. The Qu’ran even suggests that these aliens are practicing a different form of Islam. 

Weintraub added that some Hindus believe that humans are reincarnations of aliens. This is because some of their ancient Vedic texts such as the Vedas refer to advanced alien civilizations.  

But within the group broadly defined as Christian, there was a wide range of beliefs. On one side of the spectrum, 41% of Eastern Orthodox Christians believed in aliens compared to only 29% for Baptists. 

Among all religious groups, Evangelicals were the least likely to believe in aliens.

Other groups in the Christian subcategory that had a high belief in aliens were Seventh Day Adventists and Mormons. 

Though I don’t classify Mormons as Christian. Weintraub said Mormons believe that when they die, some will be immortalized as gods and rule over other planets. 

According to an article in the Salt Lake Tribune entitled, Why some Latter-day Saints believe in UFOs, Matthew Bowman explains that some Mormons believe these unconfirmed UFO sightings actually support their mormon beliefs.

Years ago, I had my one and only encounter with a UFO. I had visited a friend in another city and was driving home late at night. A light suddenly appeared on the left of my car in the night sky and travelled along side of me. I was terrified. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins. My heart was racing.

I don’t know if I was imagining this light or not, but what I do know is when I prayed and rebuked it in Jesus’ Name, this mysterious light immediately disappeared.

ESPAÑOL: ¿Las Experiencias Cercanas a la Muerte prueban la existencia del espíritu humano?

In a recent video, former atheist and now Christian apologist Lee Strobel provided evidences for the existence of the human spirit.

The Bible teaches that we are made up of a spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). At the death of our physical body, our spirit lives on. This is vividly portrayed in the Jesus’ story about the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16:19-31.

After death Lazarus’ spirit ended up in Abraham’s bosom and the rich man in Hades, a place of suffering.

Both could converse with others and though they didn’t have physical eyes, they could still see.

Though some consider this religious fantasy, Strobel points to Near Death Experiences also called NDEs as evidence of our spirit’s existence.

Many NDEs defy explanation as people reported their spirit leaving their body when they died. As their spirit soared upwards, they saw things that could only be seen if they were looking down on them.

Strobel cited two people who died in hospital and were later revived. One saw a runner on the hospital roof and another a red sticker on the top side of a ceiling fan blade. Both of these were confirmed.

The totally blind also experience NDEs when they die and see similar things to people who had full sight. Then oddly, when they returned to their body, they could no longer see.

A study conducted by psychologists Kenneth Ring and Sharon Cooper analyzed NDEs of 31 blind people. Many were blind from birth.

According to Dutch Cardiologist, Dr. Pim van Lommel, who cited the study in his book Consciousness beyond Life: The Science of the Near-death Experience, one intriguing case involved Vicki. She has been totally blind since birth due to irreversible optic nerve damage. 

She was critically hurt in a car accident and died during an emergency operation. After she was revived, Vicki said that her spirit left her body and she was able to see what was happening to her.

She said:

“And it was frightening because I’m not accustomed to see things visually, because I never had before!.  And initially it was pretty scary!  And then I finally recognized my wedding ring and my hair. And then I thought: is that my body down there?  Am I dead or what? They kept saying, “We can’t bring her back, we can’t bring her back!” And they were trying to frantically work on this thing that I discovered was my body and I felt very detached from it and sort of “so what?” And I was thinking, what are these people getting so upset about?”

She then described her spirit floating above the hospital and she saw the full grounds. She even saw the crumpled remains of the family’s Volkswagen van.

Val Lommel said her detailed descriptions defied explanation, since it was physically impossible for her to see because of atrophied eyeballs and optic nerves.

He wrote that this, ”raises significant questions… How does she do this? This is impossible according to current medical knowledge.”

It’s impossible to explain naturally.

But it is completely explainable with the Bible’s depiction of the spiritual world and existence of the human spirit.