Now, circle back to the Shiloh dig. The woman I met had witnessed the unearthing of a charred animal bone — evidence of a burnt offering. I have never thought much about “burnt offerings,” but have ...

Every year on the Jewish High Holidays I send you an edited version of my High Holiday sermon. The differences between this one and the one I preached is that this one lacks some jokes, but on the ...

Whether it was to appease a deity or honor the dead, ritual animal sacrifice was widespread in the ancient world. But there is a region where it appears that hardly any of these rituals occurred for ...

Gregory Elder, a Redlands resident, is professor emeritus of history and humanities at Moreno Valley College and a Roman Catholic priest. This photo is from about 2017. (Courtesy Photo) A question was ...

For you are not pleased with sacrifices; should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it. My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. ~ ...

Except among the devout who live Holy Week as a sacred octave, Monday of Holy Week is normally low-key, a day seemingly like any other, when many believers and nonbelievers succumb to the practical ...