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Title: Found: Slab With Hebrew Inscriptions Where Bible Says Jesus Performed ‘Miracle Of The Swine’
Source:
Breitbart
URL Source: http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/ ... erformed-miracle-of-the-swine/
Published: Dec 17, 2015
Author: Deborah Danan
Post Date: 2015-12-17 08:46:50 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 314
Comments: 3
University of Haifa researchers found the marble during an excavation in Kursi, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The discovery is the first piece of evidence confirming the existence of a Jewish or early Christian community in Kursi, mentioned in the New Testament as the place that Jesus performed the Miracle of the Swine. According to Christian tradition, Jesus healed two men said to have been possessed by demons by driving them into a herd of pigs. The slab, thought to be a commemoration tablet dating from 500 CE, has a large Hebrew inscription which begin with the words “remembered for good.” Researchers believe that the person it commemorates must have been particularly influential. “There’s nothing similar to such a detailed and expensive dedication in archaeological findings discovered in Israel so far,” said Prof. Michal Artzi from the University of Haifa. The scientists also identified the words amen and marmaria, which could either refer to marble or to Mary, Jesus’ mother. The excavation was supervised by Artzi, Dr. Haim Cohen, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. 
Israeli archaeologists discovered a 1,500-year-old slab of marble with Hebrew inscriptions (pictured) by Kursi near the Sea of Galilee in Israel’s north, reaffirming a Jewish presence at what Christians believe to be the location of Jesus’ “Miracle of the Swine.”
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#1. To: cranky (#0)
A sleazy clickbait headline from Breitbart. They know perfectly well that this is a tablet commemorating a Jewish leader of Kursi, circa 500 C.E. But to read the headline, you would think it was a marble tablet recounting the tale of Jesus casting out demons. This clickbaiting is becoming more common. You see it at sites like Ars Technica (among many others) where they will run the same article with multiple headlines on Twitter/Facebook/Google/Bing and then will adopt the most popular one (the most clicks) as the default title for that article. Since so many links get posted by a Share option on these websites, the source website can determine what the title of the link was wherever you clicked on it and display that title on the article when they serve it to you. However, others might see a very different headline. This is nothing more than clickbaiting a deliberately deceptive article from an Israeli site to try to get gullible Christians to click the link and generate some revenue. It's all about the clickbaiting and it should reflect on Breitbart's reputation as a news source. This is just one example of the kinds of sleazy stuff Breitbart pulls all the time with their "news".
And then they doubled-down: Where Christ Drove Demons into Sea: Archaeological Evidence Uncovered Israeli archaeologists have unearthed a 1,500-year-old marble slab with Hebrew inscriptions near Kursi, the spot traditionally associated with the miracle of Christ’s banishment of demons into a herd of swine. Archeologists believe the slab to be a commemoration tablet dating from around 500 AD. The inscription in Hebrew begins with the words “Remembered for good.” The biblical description of the miracle is one of the most evocative in the entire Gospel. Recounted by Matthew, Mark, and Luke with different nuances, the Gospels depict Jesus in one of His most direct confrontations with Satan. Mark describes the possessed man as fiercely strong and dangerous. Local citizens had tried in vain to restrain him with shackles and chains, but he broke them to pieces. The man lived among the tombs, howling night and day and gashing himself with stones. He terrified the people so much that no one dared go near. On seeing Jesus approach, the man ran and bowed down before him, while the demons inside him howled and begged Jesus not to torment them. Jesus, meanwhile, was ordering them, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” When Jesus commanded the demons to identify themselves, they replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” Jesus then cast the demons into a herd of about 2,000 swine grazing on a nearby hillside. The pigs rushed headlong down the steep bank into the sea, where they drowned, to the utter amazement and shock of the townspeople. The healed demoniac, now clothed and in his full senses, begged Jesus to take him back with him, but Jesus told him to stay and proclaim the mercy of God to his family and friends. The University of Haifa researchers found the marble on the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee, in Kursi, the historically Gentile district of the Decapolis. On the slab, scientists also identified the words “amen” and “marmaria,” which could refer to marble or to Mary, Jesus’ mother. Kursi has been identified in Christian tradition with Gadarenes, where the Miracle of the Swine took place. In the fifth and sixth centuries, a Christian church was built to mark the spot of the biblical location but was destroyed by invading Persians in 614 AD and, after being rebuilt, was demolished by fire shortly afterward. The site remained abandoned for most of the following 1,300 years. The church was lost to history until it was uncovered by accident during the building of a new road in 1970. Archaeological excavations continued at the site from 1970-74. Around the vicinity of the church, caves are still visible, and there is a mountain that drops down into the sea, such as described in the biblical account. Christ’s trip to the land of the Gadarenes (Kursi) was one of his rare visits to Gentile territory, which also explains the presence of the herd of pigs, which was forbidden to the Jews. Jesus Himself had said that He was sent only “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Celebrated Christian apologist Steve Ray, a frequent visitor to Kursi who often leads groups through biblical sites in the Holy Land, told Breitbart News that since Kursi had the largest monastery in Israel, it was obviously held in high esteem by the first Christians. “The early Judeo-Christians remembered the places and events surrounding the life of Christ, and as soon as Christianity was legalized, churches were built on these different sites,” he said. “The more archaeology uncovers,” Ray said, “the more the Bible is confirmed.” There are three kinds of people in the world: those that can add and those that can't
Breitbart is trying to turn itself into the new WND, I think. And they're willing to stoop to most anything to poach that audience.
#2. To: TooConservative (#1)
A sleazy clickbait headline from Breitbart.
Evidence has been uncovered corroborating the site of one of Jesus’ most powerful and dramatic miracles: the casting out of demons into a herd of swine in the land of the Gadarenes (or Gerasenes).
#3. To: cranky (#2)
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