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Nazareth Then and Now
Ancient Nazareth lacked the critical advantages for its development as a significant settlement: abundant water supply, an elevated site for defensive purposes, and strategic location adjacent to a major highway. The most comprehensive recent study of the archeology of ancient Nazareth and its local region was completed by Ken Dark over several seasons between 2004…
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The oldest hatred
Presentation to a panel discussion sponsored by the Jewish Council of Australia at St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane on Monday, 29 September 2025. The topic of the event was: Should anti-Semitism be exceptionalised or should we combat all forms of racism together? Co-hosts for the event included: Doykeit (a local Jewish group in Brisbane), St John’s…
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Third Sunday after Pentecost (9 June 2013)
Contents 1 Lectionary 2 Introduction 3 First Reading: The prophet heals a dead child 4 Second Reading: Paul’s gospel 5 Gospel: Jesus raises a dead boy at Nain 6 Jesus Database 7 Liturgies and Prayers 7.1 Music Suggestions Lectionary 1 Kings 17:8-16, (17-24) & Psalm 146 Galatians 1:11-24 Luke 7:11-17 Introduction This week we return…
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Study Leave—Week Ten
After two weeks of annual leave—during which time I was travelling in Ireland, France and Germany—I have now been back in Israel for a week, and have resumed my study leave program. The weather has now turned much warmer, with some days reaching 40 degrees Celsius. The greens of early Spring have vanished from the…
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Progressive Anglicans
It is surely ironic that the same weekend as I published a set of lectionary notes in which I call for religious leaders to disband the theological thought-police, one of my colleagues in ministry issued a call for people who hold progressive theological ideas to be expelled from the church. In my notes for the…
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Pentecost 2C (2 June 2013)
Contents 1 Lectionary 2 Introduction 3 First Reading: Elijah and the prophets of Baal 4 Second Reading: Galatians 1:1-12 5 Gospel: The healing of the centurion’s slave 6 Jesus Database 7 Liturgies and Prayers 7.1 Music Suggestions Lectionary 1 Kings 18:20-21, (22-29), 30-39 & Psalm 96 Galatians 1:1-12 Luke 7:1-10 Introduction This Sunday we return…
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Trinity Sunday (26 May 2013)
The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity has been observed in the Western (Latin) Church only since the edict of Pope John XXII early in the 14C. The Eastern Churches have no equivalent festival, although the propers adopted for Trinity Sunday are derived from prayers celebrating the Trinity and originating in the Arian controversies of…
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Pentecost (19 May 2013)
The origins of this festival go back into ancient biblical times, and beyond. On one level the festival is simply the Jewish version of the universal celebrations to mark the completion of the grain harvest at the end of Spring. The fact that this happened seven weeks after Passover, which coincided with the beginning of…
