James’s epistle was probably written by someone from within his inner circle. Again, that is true of almost every book in the New Testament, including the gospels of Mark, Matthew, and John, as well a...
In the Ummah, there was no tradition of veiling until around 627 C.E., when the so-called verse of hijab suddenly descended upon the community. That verse, however, was addressed not to women in gener...
In other words, according to Jesus, Caesar is entitled to be given back the denarius coin, not because he deserves tribute, but because it is his coin: his name and picture are stamped on it.
Herod was not just the emperor’s client-king. He was a close and personal friend, a loyal citizen of the Republic who wanted more than to emulate Rome; he wanted to remake it in the sands of Judea. He...
Herod did a masterful job of maintaining order on behalf of Rome. His reign ushered in an era of political stability among the Jews that had not been seen for centuries. He initiated a monumental buil...
Despite the common perception in the West, the Muslim conquerors did not force conversion upon the conquered peoples; indeed, they did not even encourage it. The fact is that the financial and social...
Crucifixion was a widespread and exceedingly common form of execution in antiquity, one used by Persians, Indians, Assyrians, Scythians, Romans, and Greeks. Even the Jews practiced crucifixion; the pu...
Crucifixion was a punishment that Rome reserved almost exclusively for the crime of sedition.
Actually, Paul sometimes directly contradicts Jesus. Compare what Paul writes in his epistle to the Romans—everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13)—to what Jesus says...
Unshackled by the state, the Ulama were now free to ascend to a position of unquestioned religious authority in the Ummah, which they used not only to institutionalize their legal and theological opin...
Thus, the Quran promises that all those who believe—the Jews, the Sabians, the Christians—anyone who believes in God and the Last Days, and who does good deeds, will have nothing to fear
This is no simple declaration. It is, in fact, an act of treason. In first-century Palestine, simply saying the words This is the messiah, aloud and in public, can be a criminal offense, punishable by...
The transformation of the Nazarean into a divine, preexistent, literal son of God whose death and resurrection launch a new genus of eternal beings responsible for judging the world has no basis in an...
The separation of church and state of which America is so proud was established in Islam fourteen centuries ago, when it was decided that no Caliph would have religious authority over the community.
The reason crucifixion was so common is because it was so cheap. It could be carried out almost anywhere; all one needed was a tree. The torture could last for days without the need for an actual tort...
The intention of the United States government in supporting Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war was to curb the spread of Iran’s revolution, but it had the more disastrous effect of curbing its ev...
The Roman Senate determined that the most effective way to retake Jerusalem from Parthian control was to make Herod its client-king and let him accomplish the task on Rome’s behalf. The naming of clie...
That actually is true of most of the books in the New Testament. Such so-called pseudepigraphical works, or works attributed to but not written by a specific author, were extremely common in the ancie...
So commonplace was crucifixion in the Roman Empire that Cicero referred to it as that plague. Among the citizenry, the word cross (crux) became a popular and particularly vulgar taunt, akin to go hang...
Over the last few years, the Islamic world has produced more female presidents and prime ministers than both Europe and North America combined.