resurrection debate

The shooting near my monastery has led to the close of St Stephan's gate where it took place. It's a terrible shame. Right now there is a huge rally of muslim youths in the Golden Dome Mosque. I can hear them shouting as they move around the esplanade. I really don't know what to make of the next few days.

Another big news in the newspapers here is the "discovery" of a 2000 stone slab which mentions the resurrection of someone. Israeli newspapers immediately headlined it as a discovery that will threaten Christianity's uniqueness in claiming the resurrection to Jesus Christ. Unfortunately they don't seem to read their own Scriptures (our Old Testament) that this is NO BIG NEWS. From the Gospels we already hear that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection 2000 yrs back; even in the Old Testament the Book of Maccabbees, the Book of Wisdom and many other prophets mention the resurrection. The quesiton is not whether people believed in the resurrection 2000 years back (which we all know they did!) but rather we would pose the question "Do the journalists believe that JESUS resurrected?" That would made things real interesting! Check out http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7495006.stm

Well it's another day. I've got a group from Hong Kong coming and probably I'll return with them to HK a week later. Haven't quite decided yet if I want to make this long haul flight.