ROSS SIMPSON

On March 19, 2003, the United States, along with coalition
forces primarily from the United Kingdom, initiated war on
Iraq. Just after explosions began to rock Baghdad, Iraq’s
capital, U.S. President George W. Bush announced in a 
TV address (below), “At this hour, American and coalition 
forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm
Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave 
danger.” President Bush and his  advisors built much of their 
case for war on the specious claim that Iraq, under dictator 
Saddam Hussein, possessed or was in the process of building 
weapons of mass destruction.

On March 17, 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary,
bishop and apostle of Ireland, died at Saul, Downpatrick,
Ireland. Today he is honored with the annual holiday of St.
Patrick’s Day. 

The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson’s controversial film about
the last 44 hours of Jesus of Nazareth’s life, opened in theaters
across the United States on February 25, 2004. Not coincidentally,
the day was Ash Wednesday, the start of the Catholic season of
Lent.

The star of action-packed blockbusters like the Lethal Weapon
series and Braveheart, Gibson was earning more than $20 million
per movie at the time he decided to direct The Passion of the
Christ, for which he received no cash compensation.

        Jim Caviezel                         Mel Gibson

The biblical site of the Pool of Siloam will be fully open to the
public for the first time in 2,000 years following excavation,
according to a recent announcement from the Israel Antiquities
Authority (IAA), the Israel National Parks Authority (INPA) and
the City of David Foundation (CDF).

The Pool of Siloam is recorded in the Bible in 2 Kings 20:20 after
King Hezekiah made the pool to bring water to Jerusalem and
again in John 9:1-11 when Jesus healed a blind man with mud,
according to the Biblical passage. The IAA announced the
excavation on its Facebook page last week.

Jesus Heals the Blind Man at Pool of Siloam.

On October 31, 1517, legend has it that the priest and scholar
Martin Luther approached the door of the Castle Church in
Wittenberg, Germany, and nailed a piece of paper to it that
contained the 95 revolutionary opinions that would begin the
Protestant Reformation.

In his theses, Luther condemned the excesses and corruption
of the Roman Catholic Church, especially the papal practice
that asked for payment—called “indulgences”—for the
forgiveness of sins.

           
Martin Luther  (1483 – 1546)        

The Wartburg room where Luther translated the New Testament into 
German. An original first edition is kept in the case on the desk.