The Last Supper in Detail
As of today, Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper painting is now viewable online in a high resolution 16 billion pixel scan. It's available for free to everyone with an internet connection, even if you can't get to Milan to see it in person.
Today's Link source: Yahoo! News
beliefnet: What is Holy Week, What is Good Friday, Maundy Thursday, Passion, Easter, Resurrection, Last Supper, What is Palm Sunday
"Why is it 'Good' Friday?" - Rev. Dr David A. Killian
Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday. It's the day that Christians use to celebrate the day that Jesus Christ was killed on a cross, and it is a statutory holiday in many Western countries.
As Rev. Dr. David A. Killian from Brookline, Massachusetts says:
"What is 'good' about an innocent man being arrested in the middle of the night; betrayed by one of disciples, Judas; denied by another, Peter; accused falsely by the chief priests; mocked and scourged by soldiers; and condemned to death by the Roman Procurator, Pontius Pilate? What is 'good' about crucifixion as a criminal and being scorned and mocked in one's dying hours? What is 'good' about the crown of thorns on his head, the nails in his hands and feet? Yes, this is a good question, Why is Good Friday called Good ?"
There are different views on this, but the linguistic view is that it is the result of the changes to the English language over hundreds of years. One theory says that Good Friday was " Godes Friday", meaning "God's Friday". Another view is that "Good", used to be the same as "Great" or "Holy".
The spiritual view, as Rev. Dr. David A. Killian from Brookline, Massachusetts puts it, is that "Bad Friday" becomes "Good", "because God took the treachery, cruelty, and injustice of the crucifixion [on Good Friday] and transformed it into an expression of love, forgiveness and faithfulness" by bringing Jesus back to life on Easter Sunday.
Today's beliefnet link explains "Good Friday" and many of the Christian terms and ideas that are used to describe the events of Easter week.
BBC - Religion & Ethics - Jesus
The BBC, with their usual intellectual and professional rigour, has pages on each of the 19 major world religions.
Because of the titillating Discovery documentary tonight about the so-called Tomb of Jesus, I thought that it might be a good idea to point out the original story of Jesus' life.
These pages about the life of Jesus and the history of Christianity are well done, and include a bibliography of Jesus and His miracles, information about the history of Christianity and the church, audio documentaries, and a reading list. The articles are written by well-known academic scholars, and represent the views of mainstream theological scholars, and widely-held Christian beliefs about Jesus.
Camp Artaban
I'm a little late putting up today's post because I've spent the weekend on Gambier Island at Camp Artaban. I've spent the 4 best summers of my life working there, and a few of us were up there this weekend doing some maintenance work around the camp.
Camp Artaban is an Anglican camp, but is open to people of all religions and beliefs. The activities include: climbing, swimming, wharf-jumping, drama, sports, hiking, canoeing, rowing, sailing, crafts, windsurfing, archery and dancing. Artaban has an absolutely gorgeous, natural setting in the temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest. During the summer, Camp provides a variety of high-energy, fun and meaningful camp sessions for children and families.
It's one of my favourite places in the entire world.
