USA Today reports a just released Pew Faith in Flux survey that attests patterns of church and denominational shifting, as well as people simply opting out of the organized religion scene.
Archive for April, 2009
Recent survey: Half of U.S. adults have switched religions
Monday, April 27th, 2009Bono — “It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?”
Sunday, April 19th, 2009
Bono
Bono’s New York Times post-Easter reflections — “the dying and living that is Easter.” Profit, commerce, what if we are losing our soul?
Tayinat Excavation in Turkey Sheds Light on LB-Iron “Dark Age”
Sunday, April 19th, 2009As reported in Science Daily, the University of Toronto led excavation of Tayinat in Turkey has uncovered a 10th/9th century BCE temple. It evidences cultural and political continuity going from the Late Bronze age to the Iron age, which undercuts the otherwise concensus view that this period was one of cultural collapse and chaos in the eastern Mediterranean region.
Excavation of the Tayinat temple
A Fragment of a Hebrew Inscription from the Period of the Kings of Judah was Found
Sunday, April 12th, 2009The Israel Antiquities Authority Press Office issued a press release regarding a fragment of a stone inscription that contains two fragmentary lines of Hebrew. One of the words may be reconstructed to read “Hezekiah”. Also ScienceDaily.
Hezekiah inscription
Archaeological Discovery In Jordan Valley: Enormous ‘Foot-shaped’ Enclosures
Sunday, April 12th, 2009The April 6, 2009 issue of Science Daily describes a collection of five foot-shaped structures in the Jordan Valley. These Iron Age stone enclosures may be related to festival gatherings, and may be related to the Hebrew terms gilgal (round stone structure?) and hag (festival procession).
Stone Enclosure in Jordan
Female “King” Ruled in Canaan, Carving Suggests
Sunday, April 12th, 2009The National Geographi News for April 10, 2009 reports that a plaque found at Beth Shemesh may depict the “Mistress of the Lionesses”, a female ruler of a Canaanite city known from the Amarna tablets of the 14th century B.C.E.
Mistress of the Lionesses
The Decline of Christian America
Friday, April 10th, 2009The April 13, 2009 issue of Newsweek magazine features a cover story entitled “The Decline of Christian America: How a reduction in religious affiliation will change the U.S.” It examines recent polling data that indicates how the religious profile of the nation is changing, and what this implies about the character of the United States.
April 13, 2009