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According to a report in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, by Wajih Al-Saqqar, archeologists have discovered ancient Egyptian coins bearing the name and image of the Biblical Joseph. Following are excerpts from the article: [1] "Koranic Verses Indicate Clearly That Coins Were Used in Egypt in the Time of Joseph" "In an unprecedented find, a group of Egyptian researchers and archeologists has discovered a cache of coins from the time of the Pharaohs. Its importance lies in the fact that it provides decisive scientific evidence disproving the claim by some historians that the ancient Egyptians were unfamiliar with coins and conducted...

Whether you believe that the biblical account of Joseph did happen (or something close to the biblical account), or if you didn't, this account of an Egyptian archeological find in a leading Egyptian Newspaper translated by MEMRI is very cool According to a report in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, by Wajih Al-Saqqar, archeologists have discovered ancient Egyptian coins bearing the name and image of the Biblical Joseph.

Joseph Farah is founder, editor and CEO of WorldNetDaily and a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate. He is the author of Taking America Back: A Radical Plan to Revive Freedom, Morality and Justice. He is also the editor of the online intelligence newsletter Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. He has been at the forefront of the campaign to compel President Obama to release more detailed evidence of the circumstances surrounding his birth and citizenship status. Various other well-known figures, including Alan Keyes and Jerome Corsi have questioned the sufficiency of the evidence released so far. Last week, Mr. Farah was...

JERUSALEM – Jews who arrived last night to pray at Joseph's Tomb – Judaism's third holiest site – were stunned to learn the structure had been vandalized, with the headstone smashed in and swastikas painted on the walls. "Only barbarians could do such things. People who pathologically disgrace such a holy place don't deserve to be called human beings," said Gershon Mesika, head of the Jewish regional council in the West Bank. Joseph's Tomb is the believed burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph, the son of Jacob who was sold by his brothers into slavery and later became viceroy...

Faith has disparagingly been characterized as a "crutch" for "weak minds." And on one real level, that is true: every Christian, for example, in exercising faith, has realized that he or she is a spiritually helpless sinner facing a just, holy and morally perfect God. Christianity has been called the only religion in which one must first claim personally helplessness in order to join. If someone wants to trivialize the faith of the Christian as a "crutch," I cannot help but ultimate affirm the characterization. But, for "weak minds"? There I would profoundly disagree. Faith is not a sign of...

"I ... encourage you to look to Saint Joseph. When Mary received the visit of the angel at the Annunciation, she was already betrothed to Joseph. In addressing Mary personally, the Lord already closely associates Joseph to the mystery of the Incarnation. Joseph agreed to be part of the great events which God was beginning to bring about in the womb of his spouse. He took Mary into his home. He welcomed the mystery that was in Mary and the mystery that was Mary herself. He loved her with great respect, which is the mark of all authentic love. Joseph...

Painting of the Holy Family from an exhibit of art in the Cusco School style in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC, August 2008. [The following is excerpted from the book "The Divine Favors Granted to St. Joseph," by Pere Binet, S.J., reprinted by TAN Books, pgs. 59-60, 86-87.] "Let us consider...how, as father and spouse, this incomparable Saint [Joseph] has a right to be honoured by Jesus and Mary, since it is a precept, both natural and divine, that every son must honour his father, every wife her husband. Here Gerson expresses a sweet and loving thought;...

BBC has got a Muslim trying to rewrite historic Jewish Jesus from Judea (attempting -- to no avail -- to "Arabize"& confuse JUDEA with Arabia...). Accompanied with a typical Islamic-bigotry's bombarding propaganda of the "bad" Israelis that dare to try fight the Arab Muslim (invaders) that terrorize the Jews (with security checkpoints). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7784227.stm BBC's Aleem Maqbool: The road to Bethlehem

NABLUS, West Bank — They came in waves, ardent Jewish settlers, religious women from central Israel, black-clad followers of Hasidic courts and groups of teenage boys and girls, almost a thousand of them in all. Crammed into a dozen buses and escorted by the Israeli military, the Jewish pilgrims slid quietly along deserted streets throughout the early hours of a recent morning while the residents of this Palestinian city, a militant stronghold ruled until recently by armed gangs, slept in their beds. The destination was the holy place known as Joseph’s Tomb, a tiny half-derelict stone compound in the heart...

St. Teresa de Avila (courtesy of Treasures of Grace) [The following quotes from St. Teresa de Avila about her devotion to St. Joseph are taken from her autobiography, and were quoted on St. Teresa of Avila's devotion to St. Joseph.] "I took for my advocate and lord the glorious Saint Joseph and commended myself earnestly to him; and I found that this my father and lord delivered me both from this trouble [a temporary paralysis] and also from other and greater troubles concerning my honor and the loss of my soul, and that he gave me greater blessings than I...

Biblical hero Joseph 'was really a Muslim' Palestinians make astonishing claim, deny they'll help restore burned tomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Building at Joseph's Tomb site after Palestinian Authority took control in 2000 . In the wake of an attempt by Palestinians to burn down Joseph's Tomb – Judaism's third holiest site – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction issued a statement denying it will help restore the shrine, referring to both the shrine and the biblical patriarch as "Muslim." "Pay no attention to the rumors that we will work with Israel to restore the burial site of the holy Muslim Joseph,"...

We have a bit of controversy at my church and I thought I'd throw it out there for FReepers to discuss. We had a guest preacher who was trying to make the point that we should not exclude people based on appearance, background, past history, etc., and as an illustration stated that, after all, Joseph and Mary were only living together and were not actually married - would we have excluded them?

“You Shall Call His Name Jesus” (Matthew 1:18-25)“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”The ancient Romans had a saying, Nomen est omen. Nomen est omen, which means, “The name,” nomen, “is a sign,” an omen. In other words, a person’s name sometimes, mysteriously, is a sign or omen of what is to come for that person. For example, if a little...

(IsraelNN.com) Several groups of Jewish worshippers are planning to visit the site of the tomb of the biblical Joseph in Shechem this Sunday, despite plans by the IDF to block the pilgrimage. IDF officials said Thursday they are barring Jews from visiting the site next Sunday due to concrete security warnings of terrorist attacks in the area. They also promised they would allow the worshippers to visit the site if and when the security situation changed. Several months ago, 35 MKs signed a letter to the IDF Central Command demanding the army re-open the site and provide proper security for...

Sensing Shift in Bush Policy, Another Hawk Leaves By DAVID E. SANGER Published: March 21, 2007 WASHINGTON, March 20 — Among the hawks in the Bush administration, Robert Joseph long occupied a special perch. Robert Joseph, an arms control expert, is the latest hawk to leave an administration that many conservatives say has lost its clarity of mission. As the architect of much of the administration’s strategy for countering nuclear proliferation, he helped engineer the decision to exit the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, worked secretly to squeeze Libya to give up its nuclear weapons program, and created a loose consortium of...

Besides those prayers which every Catholic should know by heart (the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Apostle's Creed, Salve Regina, Memorare, St. Michael the Archangel prayer, etc.), I highly recommend the following prayers. They are truly prayers for the times. Prayer of Recognition of Christ's Sovereignty O Christ Jesus, I acknowledge Thee as King of the world. All that exists has been created for Thee. Exercise Thy rights upon me. I renew my baptismal vows and renounce Satan with all his works and pomps, and I promise to lead a good Christian life. I particularly promise to do...

/begin my translation Something’s Wrong with Kim Jong-il... in Power Struggle or Detained? [Newsis[ Quoting a reliable source in S. Korea, Jiji Press of Japan reported on Jan. 26 that there is an intelligence that something may be wrong with Kim Jong-il recently. In its dispatch from Seoul, it reported that Kim Jong-il is not in Pyongyang, and intense power struggle could be going on between factions inside his inner circle. Intelligence outfits of U.S. and S. Korea are now trying to verify this now, according to the report. The source suggests the possibility that something might have happened to...

If you want to know what a bureaucracy does, suggests PJ O'Rourke, watch it when it does nothing. If you want to know what people think about life, watch them when death sticks out his calling card. Many act like it ain't happening. They dress the dead in tuxes and ballroom dresses and do the dead's hair and apply them with make-up. We're here to celebrate a life, they chirp, while the elephant in the room swishes his large head. They exchange stories of (I'm not making this up) the deceased's delicious flanken and chicken soup (we called them Godzilla...

“Joseph the Dreamer” A sermon preached by Dean Tom Breidenthal in the University Chapel, on The Fourth Sunday of Advent. Text: Matthew 1: 18-25 December 19, 2004 We have just heard the beginning of Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus. But it is not the entire beginning. The absolute beginning is the recitation of a long genealogy that links Abraham to King David, and David to Jesus. Here is how it begins: “An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father...

St. Joseph - Foster Father of Jesus by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. It is remarkable, how little the Holy Spirit says about famous people in the Bible. The classic example of this is Saint Joseph. He is the most prominent saint in the Catholic liturgy after the Blessed Virgin Mary. Yet there is not a single word in the Scriptures quoting Saint Joseph. Our plan here is to identify just five qualities of Saint Joseph. Each quality will be briefly described and then applied to ourselves. Of the twenty five invocations in the Litany of Saint Joseph, the ones...

What happened to Joseph the father of Jesus We know very little about the years of Jesus prior to His public ministry. The gospels are without notation of any childhood events beyond Christ's birth except one reference that is found in Luke. It is the very last time that Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus, is ever mentioned. Luke 2:41 reads: "Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning...

A spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney says 20-year-old Stephen Marshall shot himself in the head when Boston authorities, acting on a tip from Maine police, climbed on the bus he was riding at about 7:25 PM Sunday night. A spokeswoman at Boston Medical Center says Marshall died at 11:24 PM No passengers were hurt. Five were taken to hospitals to be examined. Maine authorities say Marshall was a person of interest in the deaths of 57-year-old Joseph Gray of Milo and 24-year-old William Elliott of Corinth. Both men are registered sex offenders in Maine. Police say they do not...

LORETO, Italy, MARCH 30, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The stones in the Grotto of the Annunciation in Nazareth have the same origin as those of an altar at the Holy House of Loreto, says an archaeological study. Architect Nanni Monelli and Father Giuseppe Santarelli, director of the General Congregation of the Holy House of Loreto, led the study. Their finding has reopened discussion of the historicity of the mysterious transfer of the Holy House of Nazareth to Loreto. According to tradition, the house was translated miraculously from Nazareth to Tersatto (in present-day Croatia) in 1291 and then to Loreto. Giorgio Nicolini, author...

Nothing Will Be Denied HimRev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President Human Life International When the Lord Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father accompanied by the mightiest angels in all their glory, a simple, humble man emerged from the multitude of redeemed souls to greet his Lord with deepest joy. As he approached the throne of grace all the angels and souls reverently formed a passage for the man to come into the Lord’s presence. “My son,” said the man, “how is your mother?” “My dear father!” replied the Lord of heaven and earth, “How long I have waited...

(On December 8, 1870, The Sacred Congregation of Rites promulgated the following decree, which communicated the decision of Pope Pius IX to declare St. Joseph Patron of the Universal Church, and which also raised St. Joseph’s feast of March 19 to the rank of double of the first class.) QUEMADMODUM DEUS Pope Pius IX As almighty God appointed Joseph, son of the patriarch Jacob, over all the land of Egypt to save grain for the people, so when the fullness of time was come and He was about to send to earth His only-begotten Son, the Savior of the world,...

OK, I am going to give most of you the day off. The rest of you need to pay close attention. You have some work to do. A lot of you I know like a book. That comes from almost a decade of responding to your letters and emails on a variety of subjects. You've told me in no uncertain terms that you don't like watching cowboys kiss each other. In fact, watching the media gush over boys marrying boys and girls marrying girls makes you want to upchuck your biscuits and gravy. You don't have much tolerance for those...

Site requires membership to pull up story but here is excerpt... Grandson Wants Russian Authorities to Investigate Stalin’s Death Joseph Stalin’s great-grandson has appealed to the Russian authorities with a request to investigate the circumstances of his great-grandfather’s death, news agencies reported Thursday. “When Stalin was disposed of, Khrushchev, who imagined himself to be a statesman, was able to come to power. His so called activities were nothing but a betrayal of the interests of the state that he headed,” Jacob Jugashvili said in a statement. The betrayal committed in the Kremlin should be judged in the Kremlin, too, he...

Clooney film faces censorship (But You Know The New York Slimes...) by Julia Wheeler The film which won George Clooney an Oscar may be banned in one of the countries where it was shot because of political sensitivities. Syriana was partly filmed in the United Arab Emirates. The authorities there are still deciding whether the film, which is a political thriller, will be shown.

In his first political firestorm since taking office in January, Gov. Jon S. Corzine said Wednesday that he provided $5,000 in bail money to a lobbyist accused of stalking a state assemblyman. "I reacted as a human being responding to someone in need," the multimillionaire Democrat said. "However, in light of my position as governor, I realize this was a mistake." Karen Golding, a government relations manager for insurance giant Prudential Financial, is accused of breaking into the government-issued car of Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, a Democrat, and of writing threatening letters and making threatening calls to Cryan and others. Authorities...

December 30, 2005Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph Psalm: Friday 3 Reading ISir 3:2-7, 12-14 God sets a father in honor over his children;a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.Whoever honors his father atones for sins,and preserves himself from them.When he prays, he is heard;he stores up riches who reveres his mother.Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children,and, when he prays, is heard.Whoever reveres his father will live a long life;he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother. My son, take care of your father when he is old;grieve him not as...

Four days before Christmas in 1994, John David Edington, 22, the adopted son of a Presbyterian minister named Howard Edington, was driving home through an Orlando, Fla., downpour when he lost control of his car and ran into a tree. He died instantly. The tragedy was mourned deeply in lofty reaches of the evangelical world because the Rev. Edington is an extremely respected minister and at the time was the personal pastor to Bill Bright, founder of the megaministry Campus Crusade for Christ.Edington could have retreated into his grief, but instead, he preached three Christmas sermons that week on a topic...

An interesting exercise in the hidden power of Christmas last week ... A Catholic priest was giving the invocation before the lighting of the town Christmas tree and he dropped the "J bomb." That's right, the priest had the audacity to mention — cover your ears, kiddies — Jesus Christ. That caused an immediate ruckus. A city councilman took over the microphone and insisted the tree lighting was not a Christmas tree but a holiday tree and there was to be no religion in the observance of the lighting of the holiday tree. Within hours the councilman ate his words...

 (click here to see it reeeeeeeally large)  here is a link to the news article thread, posted by FReeper Interesting Times: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1459552/posts  

Senate Intelligence Committee : Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq Conclusion 13. The report on the former ambassador’s trip to Niger, disseminated in March 2002, did not change any analysts’ assessments of the Iraq-Niger uranium deal. For most analysts, the information in the report lent more credibility to the original Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports on the uranium deal, but the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) analysts believed that the report supported their assessment that Niger was unlikely to be willing or able to sell uranium to Iraq.” Iraq has a Nuclear...

Hundreds of Jewish worshippers visited Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem (Nablus) Wednesday night to pray at the site. Terrorists opened fire at soldiers escorting the visitors, failing to inflict injuries. In what has become a monthly tradition, more than 450 Shomron residents and Breslev hassidim participated in the visit, which was planned and coordinated with the IDF. Buses filled with excited visitors left from the community of Itamar, located on the outskirts of Shechem. The visit marked the anniversary of the death of Joseph, the son of the patriarch Jacob, who after being sold into slavery by his brothers, rose in...

Hundreds of Jewish worshippers, escorted by the IDF, entered the city of Shechem (Nablus) to pray at the tomb of the bibilical Joseph (son of Jacob) Wednesday night. The visit, authorized by the IDF, was advertised via word of mouth, resulting in more than 300 Jews from all over the country showing up in the Shomron town of Itamar close to midnight for the visit. “There were hundreds of people - all different ages, men and women, hareidi-religious Jews from America, from Israel, national religious, Lubavich and Breslav Chassidim, babies – everyone showed up,” Israel National Radio’s Avi Hyman reported....

Does al-Qaida have nukes? SPECIAL REPORT Publishing date: 12.05.2005 20:03 Intelligence specialist alarmed by WMD Commission Report By LTC Joseph C. Myers Does al-Qaida have a nuclear weapon? With all of our pressing focus on events in the War on Terror overseas, that is the most important question here at home. Historically the pattern of WMD proliferation in the world has been principally state to state: China to Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and possibly North Korea; or North Korea to Pakistan, and maybe a former Soviet Republic to North Korea. I would have assessed it as a “low probability” that al-Qaida...

1962 Sunday Missal Mass Readings/Propers for the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker   Colors:  White   INTROIT  Wisdom 10:17 Wisdom rendered to the just the wages of their labors, and conducted them in a wonderful way: and she was to them for a covert by day, and for the light of stars by night. [P.T. Alleluia, alleluia.] -- (Ps. 126. 1). V.: Glory be to the Father . . . -- Wisdom rendered to the just . . .   COLLECT - O God, Creator of all things, Who dost impose on man the law of work; grant...

It is of much relief to me to see not one single name in the list posted here belonging to a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormons. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We firmly believe our leaders receive revelation directly from the Lord Jesus Christ and it is through revelation that our church began. We consider our church to be a restoration of the truths and blessings that were lost during the great apostasy that occurred after the apostles and prophets were killed...

When Pope Benedict XVI was Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger he told Europe to recover its Christian roots “if it truly wants to survive.” Amen from an arch-Protestant whose ancestors included refugees who fled Catholic persecution for freedom in Virginia. The new Pope is a scholar who sees history unfolding into the future. We agree. Europe will be Islamic and subject to Islamist Totalitarianism by 2100, unless Europeans turn to faith and family. If Europe fails to live for faith and family, succumbing further to Socialist Human Secular Totalitarianism, then European culture deserves to die under Islamic culture. Many Europeans hope that...

Pope Benedict XVI: What's In Two Names? It is interesting the Holy Spirit chose a man baptized Joseph, and, that he, Joseph Ratzinger, chose Benedict as his pontifical name. Mr. and Mrs. Ratzinger, having no idea that their newborn son would one day be called to run the Catholic Church, decided to name their baby after Saint Joseph. Surely, Providence inspired their choice. Saint Joseph, among his many other titles, is known as the Terror of Demons. Beside the very reality of the meaning of that phrase (evil spiritual forces fear the intercession of Saint Joseph), this title reflects the...

St. Joseph's Spirit of Silence The prudence of St. Joseph had soared to the highest point possible, to the extent of seeing nothing but divine things, sola divina intueatur. It towered over the fleeting course of transitory thigns. We see him as a contemplative absorbed in God, as the man of silence and mystery who is on the earth without being of the earth and from whom nothing may, even for a moment, take away the thought of eternity. Let us also admire him as a man of silence; to know how to refrain from speaking is an outstanding part...

Humility and Virginity Just as St. Joseph took care to guard his virtues under cover of very holy humility, he was also diligent in hiding the precious pearl of his virginity. If he agreed to be married, it was so that, without anyone knowing it, he could hide his virtue under the veil of a holy marriage. On this subject, virgins and those who wish to live in chastity, are taught that it is not sufficient to be celibate. If they are not humble and do not guard their purity in the precious vase of humility, they will be like...

Indict Sandy Berger now Posted: March 7, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern WorldNetDaily.com "To me the great danger is the complacency we have fallen into three and half years after 9-11." Who said that? A. Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff B. CIA Director Porter Goss C. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez D. FBI Director Robert S. Mueller Any of those choices would have been a good guess. But none of those men made that statement. Instead, it was made, in my estimation, by a most unlikely character – former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger. He made the comment a week ago...

<p>A key Iraqi scientist recently told the CIA that high-strength aluminum tubes bought by Baghdad weren't meant for nuclear bomb production, as President Bush suggested in his State of the Union address, two experts on Iraq's nuclear program say.</p> <p>Mahdi Shukur Obeidi, who headed a uranium-enrichment unit vital to Iraq's pre-1991 bomb plans, "also said that since '91 they hadn't resurrected a nuclear weapon program," according to ex-Iraq inspector David Albright, an American physicist who acted as go-between for Obeidi to talk to U.S. authorities a few weeks ago.</p>

February 2, 2005Feast of the Presentation of the Lord Psalm: Wednesday 8 Reading IMal 3:1-4 Thus says the Lord GOD:Lo, I am sending my messengerto prepare the way before me;And suddenly there will come to the templethe LORD whom you seek,And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.But who will endure the day of his coming?And who can stand when he appears?For he is like the refiner's fire,or like the fuller's lye.He will sit refining and purifying silver,and he will purify the sons of Levi,Refining them like gold or like silverthat...

Until the 18th century, there was basically only one kind of Judaism, that which is now called Orthodox. It meant living by the religion's 613 laws, and doing so suffused Jews' lives with their faith. Then, starting with the thinker Baruch Spinoza (1632-77) and moving briskly during the Haskala, or "enlightenment," from the late 18th century, Jews developed a wide variety of alternate interpretations of their religion, most of which diminished the role of faith in their lives and led to a concomitant reduction in Jewish affiliation.These alternatives and other developments, in particular the Holocaust, caused the ranks of the...

JERUSALEM, Dec. 29 - The Israeli police filed criminal indictments on Wednesday against four antiquities collectors, accusing them of forging biblical artifacts, many so skillfully that they fooled experts. Some were even celebrated briefly as being among the most significant Christian and Jewish relics ever unearthed. The police and the Israel Antiquities Authority said their investigation had focused on several major forgeries, including a limestone burial box, or ossuary, bearing an inscription that suggested that it held the remains of Jesus' brother James. The Antiquities Authority declared the ossuary a forgery last year. The authorities also described as counterfeit a...

Christmas has just passed, and most Americans are looking forward to the new year. Bush won the election fair and square-even Michael Moore and his thousands of election watchers had nothing to say on November 3rd. So who decides to open up their big fat pie hole right before Christmas? None other than the Reverend of extortion himself, the almight Jesse Hi-Jackson. Jackson said that Bush cut money for (free) housing, and the same thing happened in Jesus's time and that is why Joseph and Mary were homeless. Unless I am wrong, Reverend, but Joe and Mary were required by...

Just The Kind of Craziness You’d ExpectThe BitPig Rant 2004.12.26 Today is the Feast of St. Stephen, martyr. (St. Stephen was one of the 7 deacons chosen by the Apostles to work with the poor. Because of his unwavering belief in Jesus, he was stoned to death, becoming the first martyr of the Church.) It is also the Feast of the Holy Family — the day when we Christians celebrate the Earthly family of the Lord, and, by extension, the miracle of the Incarnation, the defining miracle of Christianity. It’s pretty hard to believe if you think about it. The...