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Last month, if you were visiting Adis Ababa in Ethiopia, you would have witnessed an astonishing sight. Every January, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church celebrates a festival called Timkat, during which their senior priests parade through the streets of Ethiopia’s capital. They carry a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, as onlookers drop to their knees in reverence. This obscure branch of Christianity has approximately 50 million adherents, most of whom live in Ethiopia. Aside for this sect’s curious affinity to the Hebrew Scriptures and Jewish practices — evident in their observance of kosher laws, separation of the sexes...

Ken Ham, president of the Answers in Genesis Christian ministry that built the $100 million Ark Encounter biblical theme park in Williamstown, Kentucky, riled LGBT advocates Tuesday when he announced that they will be reclaiming the rainbow for God with permanent rainbow lights for their life-sized Noah's Ark replica. "We now have new permanent rainbow lights at the Ark Encounter so all can see that it is God's rainbow and He determines its meaning in Genesis 6," Ham said in a statement on Facebook. "The rainbow is a reminder God will never again judge the wickedness of man with a...

Israeli and French researchers to excavate ancient site of Kiryat Ye’arim, outside Jerusalem, one of the few unstudied biblical tels One of the few remaining unstudied major biblical sites, where according to the Bible the Ark of the Covenant was kept for two decades, will be excavated by archaeologists this summer for the first time. Organizers hope the anticipated study of Kiryat Ye’arim (also transliterated as Kiriath Jearim) will shed light on the site’s significance during the Iron Age, the period associated with the biblical account of King David. Kiryat Ye’arim is mentioned over a dozen times in the Bible...

The cartoonification of Noah’s Ark How such ‘delightful depictions’ downplay the Deluge—and Christianity by Phil Robinson A cartoon is a drawing in an unrealistic style, usually for satire, caricature or humour, and/or to appeal to children. ‘Cartoonification’ (aka ‘cartoonization’) is a recent colloquialism for the process of making something that’s real look ‘cartoonish’. I.e. drawing it in a (usually ridiculously) oversimplified, child-friendly or ‘delightful’ manner. Unfortunately, this has happened with Noah’s Ark, marker of one of the key events in biblical history. Most depictions of it have become thoroughly cartoonized! With the Bible so clear on the size, purpose and...

Want to serve food or operate rides at Kentucky's new Noah's Ark attraction? Then you must first pledge your Christianity. The theme park will be searching for 300 to 400 workers to fill food service, ticketing and other theme park-related positions at the 510-foot long Ark Encounter before it opens in July. Ken Ham, founder of the ministry Answers in Genesis, says employees will be required to sign a statement saying they're Christian and 'profess Christ as their savior'.

And the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.( 1 Samuel 6:1-2)We have been seeing in the story of the capture of the Ark of the covenant by the Philistines, in the book of Samuel. Not only did these events truly happen in Israel’s history, but they foretell the future history of both gentiles and Jews in their details. * Israel would endure...

And the Word of Samuel Came to All Israel…(I Samuel 4:1)Thus begins the story of the capture of the ARK. The events which would follow, involve all ISRAEL for all time. The story of the capture and recovery of the Ark is the future history of Israel as well as valid salvation history. What we have related so far is that Israel suffered in their own land under foreign domination. Because of their unfaithfulness they were unable to fully dwell in the land, according to the terms of the covenant. Israel sought to throw off the foreign domination, but proved...

And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh...

It's a common theme in science fiction, but migrating to planets beyond our solar system will be a lot more complicated and difficult than you might imagineThe idea that humans will eventually travel to and inhabit other parts of our galaxy was well expressed by the early Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who wrote, “Earth is humanity’s cradle, but you’re not meant to stay in your cradle forever.” Since then the idea has been a staple of science fiction, and thus become part of a consensus image of humanity’s future. Going to the stars is often regarded as humanity’s destiny,...

The Genesis Flood and Noah’s Ark. Fact or fiction? by Tas Walker Published: 27 August 2015 (GMT+10) Many doubt the biblical story of Noah’s Flood. To many the story seems a gross exaggeration or a work of fiction. And if Noah’s Flood is not believable, why trust any historical account in the Bible? People have posed many objections to a factual interpretation of this event and this article (and the articles linked to it) answers many of the key questions people have about the Flood and the Ark.

CIA Releases New 'Noah's Ark' Documents Posted Nov. 13, 2002 By Timothy W. Maier Is it the Ark, or just a piece of rock? Two years after Insight filed an appeal charging that the CIA withheld documents and imagery concerning the Mount Ararat anomaly in Turkey, the CIA has released two new documents to Insight that indicate the search for "Noah's Ark" reached the level of the White House under former president George H.W. Bush. The appeal, filed one month after Insight's exclusive story (see "Anomaly or Noah's Ark?"; Nov. 20, 2000), comes on the heels of the CIA's releasing...

Since October 2014, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has regularly referred to the concept of a "Mastermind" (ust akil, "supra-intellect," in Turkish) that, he says, is plotting against Turkey. This concept has been applauded by the Islamist pro-AKP media. Erdogan's December 12, 2014 speech, which focused on this "mastermind" concept, inspired the production of a two-hour "documentary" by one of the leading Turkish television channels, the pro-AKP A Haber. The film, titled "The Mastermind," first aired on March 15, 2015 and has been broadcast repeatedly since then; in addition, the Turkish Islamist pro-AKP media are circulating the film on their...

The real Noah’s Ark? by Dominic Statham Dr Irving Finkel’s new book in which he claims to have found the original Flood story. Dr Irving Finkel is an Assyriologist at the British Museum in London and an expert in ancient cuneiform scripts. In recent months he has become something of a celebrity, following the publication of his book, The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood,1 and the Channel 4 documentary, The Real Noah’s Ark.2 The source of this media hype is his recent translation of a small Babylonian tablet, named the Ark Tablet. It is about the...

The remains of Noah's Ark have been found 12,000ft up a Turkish mountain, it was claimed today. A group of Chinese and Turkish evangelical explorers say carbon testing on remains found on Mount Ararat show they are 4,800 years old, around the time when the ark was said to be afloat. But the group left themselves open to a critical backlash after they failed to reveal the location of their find or produce photographs of the exterior of the site.

Lake Michigan and Lake Huron water levels may do something only achieved four times in the last 154 years. This time of year is normally the season when Great Lakes lake levels begin to fall. Typically evaporation is greater than precipitation and runoff from rivers and streams. So there is normally less water going into Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior at this time of year. On Lakes Michigan-Huron July is typically the high water month. Lake Superior usually sees peak water level in July or August. This year is different. Lakes Michigan-Huron, and Lake Superior have continued to rise, even...

Students Surprised to Find Noah's Ark Feasible by Brian Thomas, M.S. * Advanced physics students at Leicester University were tasked with determining if the Biblical dimensions of Noah's ark—assuming it was properly constructed—could have supported the mass of 70,000 animals. Student Kayie Raymer told UK's The Telegraph that after other "more serious" assignments, this one was "something different."1 What did they find? The students used 48.2cm (almost 19 inches) as the length of a cubit to estimate the total dimensions of the ark. Using the density of water and Archimedes' principle of buoyancy, they calculated the total mass the ark...

As Darren Aronofsky and Russell Crowe unveil “Noah” in U.S. cinemas this week, British archaeologist Irving Finkel offers a new perspective on the story with his book “The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood.” In his book, published in the U.S. by Doubleday, Finkel tells the story of how he managed to get his hands on a cuneiform tablet, which was part of the flood story. As a curator for the British Museum, he relies on members of the public bringing artifacts to him for inspection. He was on duty one afternoon in 1985 when a man...

Ten Ways Noah’s Ark Prefigured the Church Stephen BealeWhen Catholics speak about the Church as the “barque of St. Peter,” two images usually come to mind—the actual fishing boat of St. Peter and the ark that saved Noah and his family from the Genesis flood.Indeed, since the time of the Fathers, Catholics have always seen the epic ark as a type of the Church. Just as the ark was the means by which Noah and his relatives were spared destruction, so also the Church is the instrument by which Christians are saved. The comparison between the two has an...

Expensive biblical epics haven’t been a staple of Hollywood for decades, but this week saw the release of the first trailer of Noah which will hit theaters in early 2014. Enter controversy. Some like J.W. Wartick have written on concerns over possible “divergence from the Biblical story.” Fair enough, but I don’t have a problem with divergence, if it is in the sense Brian Godawa describes: " …there is nothing wrong with engaging in creative license, whether it is magical seeds or six-armed Watchers, or even Noah as a warrior. I don’t even think there is a problem in using...

Maher began the monologue by declaring that America is “stupid” because 60 percent of the country reportedly believes the tale of Noah’s ark is literally true. He went on to slam the film Noah as “floating giraffe cr**,” but said it “must be doing something right” since it’s been condemned by both Muslims and Christians. And the fact that it might lose a lot of studio money, he joked, “may put it in hot water with the Jews too.”