at the end of the bible here the apocalypse is the last book of the new testament so well the christian bible and what does this book say it says the world will end that god will decree the world's end the christ will come again and that before he comes again there will be a lot of battles. these are called eschatological battles between good and evil so there will be earthquakes cataclysms wars the church will be persecuted and many believers as soon as there are troubled times and there always have been in the history of humanity they will take this as proof to say that the end of the world is near and in the last two thousand years there have been hundreds of announcements of this kind all untrue obviously all untrue otherwise we wouldn't be here talking about it. some are still trying to predict this famous date and in fact two thousand and twelve is only the latest theory in vogue. and paris is not just a bookshop the end of the world department contains dozens of works that link this dates to a very old prophecy. a mayan prophecy. these pre-columbian people believe that the world was re

the end of the bible where the apocalypse is the last book of the new testament so while the christian bible i want is this book say it says the world will and that god will to create the world and the christ will come again and that before. these are called eschatological battles bitter. to be persecuted and many believers as soon as there are trouble. to say that the end of the world is near and in the last two thousand years there have been they're talking about it some are still only the latest theory in vogue. in paris is. a mayan prophecy of thousand years. before two thousand and twelve. pounds the end times for the real my and we are going from and they try to uphold this legend with all the strength of a scientific truth. in a suburb of and to a pathway to get real reform a chemist has become an apocalypse star. over the last ten years he's written several books announcing the two thousand and twelve catastrophe and he tracks the end of the world science on the internet i am following every day several sites or from the bad fourth university from nasa follow the possibility that the

how do you have this idea that biblical religion supports human rights with the fact that christianity and the bible has changed dramatically over the last 2,000 years? >> i would argue that the essence of christianity has not changed over the last 2,000 years. it is been used for political purposes and people tend to piggy back their political agendas on to all kind of mankind inheritance. but biblical religion is a constant of human nature. i do not think and certainly did not intend to say that a belief in natural rights needs to be grounded in religion. jefferson believes our rights don't depend on our religious beliefs. i do believe it is the case that religious people are grounded in the right are natural because nature was designed by a creator have a particularly strong foundation for a belief in our rights. >> thank you so much for being here. it's an honor. did you ever consider running for political office, what were the determining factors and would you ever consider it in the future? >> no to the first question. i live in maryland. there are only three republicans in maryland. and secon

gnostic text would be suppressed, hidden or destroyed while orthodox christianity constructed great temples and claimed authority over the bibled face its greatest challenge, persecution by the roman empire. ♪ >> the landscape of christianity today looks very different than it did in the 1st century. back then, there were no steeples, no pews, no altars, no churches as we know them. even the christmas holiday did not exist. >> the simplest things, like the >> the gnostic gospels are not early sources of christianity. they are documents that came into existence way after the actual gospels had come into existence. they also don't fairly represent christianity as what it was, namely a group that had its origins in judaism. in fact, some of these documents are essentially anti-semitic, and that's why they want to deny the old testament origins of christianity. let alone to deny the real human role of jesus in judea in the 1st century. >> gnosticism to church leaders was heresy, and to survive in this dangerous time, the church had to be united. over the next two centuries, the sacred gnostic text would be suppressed, hidden or de

when they tried to get a union going that the call christian, they know the christian bible does not agree with that. maybe we could form another -- e know what i am trying to say. to work for taking my call. host: sacramento, florida. caller: i am a retired marine. i have been for the past years. yes or 72 years old. gay marriage has nothing to do with whether or not -- it is a matter of discrimination. we have a much larger problem of inter this country to worry about than whether people get married. i think it is a waste of time for the supreme court. i hope the rest of the world -- i hope it catches up with the rest of society. host: your state has already made a decision that is being considered by the supreme court. caller: the supreme court should just looked away. just call it what it is, discrimination and let it rest. host: from twitter this morning -- there are about 100 people weighing in on facebook as well. facebook.com/cspan. it is a way to have a conversation other than telephone. in north carolina on the independent line. caller: why do they not simply change the wor

slogan, a christian bible verse.bible verses, you state of text it is got involved. and you don't want to mess with god or guns in texas, but they keep the bible verses, to show you how violent the attacks on the christian faith, in new jersey, a student asked a teacher about the bible verse and the teacher showed where the bible verse was, happened to be a member of the gideons and give students bibles in schools. this teacher is now facing suspension of 90 days and to show you how extreme it is, guys, in russia, the gideons are allowed to go into the classrooms to give girls and boys bibles and here in the united states not allowed anywhere inside the schools e it's a sad day when we're taking cues by what russia does, especially everything we heard about putin and the adoption problem. >> focusing on 2013, what do you see as perhaps a wave going forward here into this next year? >> moving forward i think we are going to see these attacks on religious liberty, especially when it comes to the obamacare mandate, you

of human rights, with the idea that human beings interpretation of virginity and the bible has changed -- christianity and the bible has changed dramatically? >> christianity has not changed. christianity, like everything else, has been used for political purposes. it has piggybacked on political agendas. it seems to me, and essence of biblical religion is human nature. i did not intend to say that a belief in natural rights needs to be grounded in religion. as jefferson said, our rights, no more than geometry and physics, depend on religious beliefs. i do think it is the case that religious people, grounded in the idea that rights are natural, because nature was designed by a creator to express the will of the creator, have a particularly strong foundation for belief. >> thank you so much for being here, it is an honor. did you ever consider running for political office? what were the political factors -- determining factor stacs? >> no. i live in maryland, there are only about three republicans in maryland. [applause[laughter] . >> i neglected to mention prior to the presentation is that we will tak

arguments and found them lacking. >> do you think traditional christianity will survive the exotic forms we see today? >> i think the bible will always be the most important book in western culture and people will always interpret it. >> jeffrey sheler -- born in grand rapids, 50 years of age, married, two children. you're a presbyterian, your politics are independent. where did you go to college? >> i went to michigan state university for journalism. georgetown university for theological studies. >> did you get a degree from georgetown. >> master's degree in liberal studies. >> in liberal studies. that includes, what, theology? >> theology, philosophy, yeah. >> do they teach you shakespeare? >> i managed to stay away from shakespeare at the master's level. >> you'd be comfortable there now because i understand even for literature majors shakespeare is not a mandatory subject, do you believe that? what has happened to these? >> reporter, covered politics, weekly pbs series john ander nathalie. "u.s. news and world report," religion editor. your book to your credit. >> my first book. >> and still working at "u.s. news & wo

christian religion. there are also courses approved vision for the total separation of church and state in the founding doctrine, correct? >> no, i don't think the total separation of church and sta is in the bible there's total disebb stabment, emerges in the 19th century. >> wer they dominantly christian, as if it was not founded as a nation free of any required state religion? >> no, i -- no, i -- this -- >> therefore, it was a secular nation, as they saw it, and they wanted it that way. >> i think you have to talk about whether it's by law or by culture. and i think most everybody would have understood early on that by law, the nation was secular, but by choice, the nation was -- in otr words, its people were christians and there's always been that dynamic, people have always understood there's a tension there between a population that's largely christian but uses its freedom to choose christiity and the laws that say go ahead and be whatever religion you want to be. >> this is what i understand from your text. one of five of the founding fathers had any religious stressed denomination or affiliation and that was when it existed calvinist and that was prett9 much of a god almost independent

bible. hy grew up in a very religious family. i am not a believer. as an adult i have never been a believer but my parents were born again christians and they read the bible every day and as a young teenager i read the entire bible. the language, leaving aside all talk of religion and focusing on the words that are used in the king james translation, first of all, it is fabulously well written and secondly, so many of those phrasess and rhythms have entered into all of our minds, all of us whether we have ever read the bible or not we know those frayss and we used them and i think i am probably every other riders in the english language has been influenced by the king james translation more than by any of the book. what i'd like to do when i come to manhattan, actually the same as what i do in london. i like to go to restaurants with my friends. >> i read the -- "eye of the needle" and on the wings of eagles and i thought they were both superb. your comment about boy george and communism put something in my mind. have you come across any similar conversations between franco and hitler as to why franco did not declare war on the allies after having ac

bible. >> i see, i see. >> right. he derived these mostly from hinduism but christianity had influence on him too. >> i see. he spent how many years then in south africa? >> he went there to work there for only one year on a kind of contract from his company to represent people of indian descent being discriminated against. he ended up staying there for 20 years. >> long vacation. >> much longer than he wanted. in between he went back to india and thought he had finished work there but he was called back because the voting rights were suppressed for people of indian descent. people in south africa wanted gandy to come back because he had developed this tremendous sense of leadership. >> he was already a national figurine international figure in south africa. >> he became an international figure because he was fighting discrimination and standing up for justice and organizing people and burning the registration cards because people of indian descent are required to carry all these identity cards. >> this was already him doing nonviolent protest. >> and he organized people. a and he went to the mines. he got

how should the bible be studied by modern christians who want a deeper understanding of. that i mean what you're describing is jesus as the original liberal. that world view. well you know i would recommend when i teach my theology classes i say theology begins with a pain and so in the bible studies that i'm writing for people to use occupy the bible and a lot of churches have signed up to use it for lent and bible study but i'm very happy about so i actually start with the pain i start with the economic pain that people are in and i recommend that to people to study it actually to get in touch with what's happened to you how is it happened that the median income in this country has stayed practically stagnant for a decade and you know we've been going downhill in terms of real income for three decades the whole trickle up theory of reaganomics is a transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top and so people are in pain and i think if you start where the pain is then people can begin to hear wow this message of jesus is for me and i think bible study is grasping that exi

how do you have this idea that biblical religion supports human rights with the fact that christianity and the bibleas changed dramatically over the last 2,000 years? >> i would argue that the essence of christianity has not changed over the last 2,000 years. it is been used for political purposes and people tend to piggy back their political agendas on to all kind of mankind inheritance. but biblical religion is a constant of human nature. i do not think and certainly did not intend to say that a belief in natural rights needs to be grounded in religion. jefferson believes our rights don't depend on our religious beliefs. i do believe it is the case that religious people are grounded in the right are natural because nature was designed by a creator have a particularly strong foundation for a belief in our rights. >> thank you so much for being here. it's an honor. did you ever consider running for political office, what were the determining factors and would you ever consider it in the future? >> no to the first question. i live in maryland. there are only three republicans in maryland. and second

gnostic text would be suppressed, hidden or destroyed while orthodox christianity constructed great temples and claimed authority over the bibley would face its greatest challenge, persecution by the roman empire. [ nurse ] i'm a hospice nurse. britta olsen is my patient. i spend long hours with her checking her heart rate, administering her medication, and just making her comfortable. one night britta told me about a tradition in denmark, "when a person dies," she said, "someone must open the window so the soul can depart." i smiled and squeezed her hand. "not tonight, britta. not tonight." [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson. [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, trying to find a better job can likbe frustrating.gs, so at university of phoenix we're working with a growing list of almost two thousand corporate partners - companies like microsoft, american red cross and adobe - to create options for you. not only that, we're using what we learn from these partners to shape our curriculum, so that when you find the job you want you'll be a perfect fit. let's get to work. make a wish

bible. like many roma, he is a devout christian. >> the word of god brings peace to my heart. i believe god gives me strength and the talent to play. it was a gift from heaven. i never had any musical lessons in my life. never ever. >> the circus man's are parked at the edge of the city along the river that divides rich and poor. vasily is proud to belong to what is called the traveling full. this is the circus director, although he says titles mean little to him. decades ago, he found it an old school style traveling gypsy service. he uses the term gypsy, and if that is a provocation for some, he does not care. >> we are like the indians and the amazon or nomadic peoples. there are no less the world over, and everywhere, they have a bad reputation. everything is done to make nomads put roots down in one place. >> he says that is just what has harmed the roman people. the circus found many of its artists in city slums where most of his friends now live, and adopted them into an extended family. >> that is my wife's mother. on the right is her aunt. this one is a distant cousin

coming to the united states, he spent years as a leader in the underground christian community, organizing churches and handing out bibles. iran has not charged him with a crime. but when the revolutionary guard arrested him, he was told he would have to pay for his christian missionary work. his family is desperate to bring him home and has reached out to the state department, no luck there -- at least so far. your thought about the christian in iran who is now in custody? >> do i hope the state department will get involved in this. he is a u.s. citizens. i think this illustrates, to go back to the brutality, the lack of freedom in these islamic countries and makes you wonder why is it that we are led to believe -- americans collectively, led to believe that perhaps it's just a fine thing for americans to be willing to spend and shed our own blood and treasure to usher in sharia democracy in the middle-east, which sharia law does call for those who would convert to christianity, they can be put to death. why would we advocate -- especially sending our sons and daughters in conflict, they would be willing to make the ult

institutions were now so entrenched in roman society. >> christians wanted to have their members knowledgeable and capable of reading the biblethat a large number of people inmperial administration are christians, because they could read and write, which constituted a big problem with the persecution of the christians because they were thrown out of their office first when the persecution began, and suddenly, the... the government didn't work anymore. >> by that time, the christians are so numerous that they can't possibly be eradicated; they've already grown that much. so, in a sense, the persecution really doesn't catch up until it's already too late. >> narrator: by now, the jesus movement had spread its message to every corner of the roman empire. >> the last decades of the third century, you get a great insurge of people into christianity. there are some scholars who think that, in egypt, for example, by the 320's, there would actually be a majority of christians-- maybe a rather slight majority, but nonetheless a sizable number of christians. >> narrator: the turning point in the history of the christian movement occurr

bible. one of the greatest treasure hunts in human history. christiane amanpour takes us on a journey in search of the lost art. >>> bette and billy. tonight, holcolywood comedy ico talk about teaming up on screen for the first time. >> i'm going to start a fire. >> from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," december 27th, 2012. >>> good evening, i'm terry moran. this year's holiday gift giving frenzy is drawing to a close. for many of us, that means this season's spending remorse is sinking in. the average american spent an estimated $700 during the holidays this year, so tonight, we wanted to bring you an inside look at the bargain stores that could help out with your wallet rehab. abc's ryan owens brings us inside the booming business of being cheap. >> reporter: they're opening their doors faster than new starbucks. >> i like it because it's cheaper. >> reporter: there are now more dollar stores in the united states than drugstores. >> since the prices are so good, i

tonight we have a new clue about one of the biggest mysteries in the bible, the great flood in the story of noah's ark. abc's christianenpour went back to the holy land with one of the world's leading underwater archaeologists. robert ballard, the man who found the titanic on the floor of the ocean. he says there's scientific proof that the great flood did happen. >> reporter: our journey to investigate the story of noah and his ark, led us to the banks of the black sea in turkey, where we heard that tantalizing clues were being uncovered by dr. robert ballard, one of the world's leading underwater archaeologists. >> let's get closer down. we talk about the flood being living history. they don't compare at all to the floods of ancient times. the question is, was there a mother of all floods? >> reporter: ballard thinks there was and he's testing a controversial theory, that the biblical flood happened here. >> why the black sea? because the black sea appears to have had a giant flood and people were living there. >> reporter: the theory goes, about 12,000 years ago, much of the earth was covered in ice that began to me

taking the bible out of context is something right wing christians do every day because the only way you can cling to both guns and the bible is if you agree to totally ignore the jesus parts. but across america, millions of people of all states are wrestling with a spiritually sane response to gun culture. so i'm pleased to welcome my next guest. joining us here in new york is rabbi eric yoffe for the union for reformed judaism. thank you for coming inside "the war room." >> happy to be with you. s. >> john: you wrote a deeply powerful piece in "huffington post" and everybody out there atheist and believer alike should read called "gun worship is blasphemy." what was it that prompted you to go with that particular title? >> i believe that gun control is a religious issue. we have turned guns into idols and the worship of idols is blasphemy and the only proper response to blasphemy is moral outrage and moral action. that's what that piece was about. >> john: i want to talk with you about the whole morality of gun culture. a lot of people are struggling with where do you draw the line

bible. one of the greatest treasure hunts in human history. christiane amanpour takes us on a journey in search of the lost art. >>> bette and billy. to

hope know, is an epigram of wisdom contained in the "book of proverbs" in what christians call the old testament, the hebrew biblew better it is to get wisdom than gold. >> money buys prophets and teachers, poems and art. so, listen, if you're so rich, why aren't you smart? >> he that spareth his rod hateth his son. >> that line gives you a perfect way of testing your inner feelings about child molesting. >> he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. >> but here at the parish, we don't find it overly hard to accept his dirty cash or credit card. >> hope deferred maketh the heart sick. >> that's just why the good lord made it mandatory to eat your heart out down in purgatory. >> wisdom is better than rubies. >> among the jeweled bishops and other boobies it's also a whole lot rarer than rubies. >> he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. >> trusting your heart may not be awfully bright, but trusting proverbs is an idiot's delight. >> i like that, i like that. that's from "perfidious proverbs," which is your new book. what gives you happiness? what gives you joy? >> poetry does, music does, theater

i'm a bible-believing christian, that's what i was saying in that instance.d that's out of control, outrageous spending and that's what i'm focusing on now. >> thank you for coming in this morning. should have an interesting vote in the days ahead. leaning against it right now. thank you. >> thank you. >> 37 minutes past the hour. newtown continues to bury its dead from the shooting that claimed 26 lives at sandy hook. four more funerals today. including one for teacher victoria soto who helped shield her students during the rampage. she, of course, is a hero. being remembered that way. jessica rekos and james mattioli, two of the slain first graders lane to rest yesterday. i want to tell you about jess a jessica. she is the one we called cowgirl. loved everything about horses, horse movies, drawing horses and writing about them. her parents say she didn't miss a trick and outsmarted us every time. we called her our little ceo. i want to talk about james mattioli, quick to remind everyone he was 6 3/4 years old. loved to wear shorts and t-shirts in any weathe

. ♪ it includes a prayer sung by a rabbi, readings from the bible and the koran, prayers from christianeaders and a promise from president obama. >> in the coming weeks, i'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents and educators in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this. >> tonight the crowd at the prayer service gave a standing ovation to the first responders, those who answered the call at sandy hook elementary school. we want to update you on the investigation as well, the developments in the aftermath of the tragedy in newtown. here's what we know now. police say that two people shot and wounded in the rampage are recovering. initial reports indicated only one person who was wounded had survived. now, investigators continue piecing together exactly what happened. now, they say they're not going to stop until they've interviewed every witness and analyzed every piece of evidence including each round of ammunition. faculty members are meeting today. schools in newtown will reopen

presents is often tied to the magi, or wise men, who according to the bible story, brought precious gifts to the baby jesus. but many christianst tradition has gotten out of hand. according to the national retail federation, americans will spend $563 billion dollars for christmas 2012. the average family is expected to shell out about $750. the federation also forecasts that this holiday season, consumers will be spending the highest amount ever on gifts for themselves. amid all the shopping frenzy, more and more church leaders are speaking out against self-indulgence and consumerism. >> it's kind of hijacked the whole idea that christmas is about jesus' birth and honoring jesus with the priities that jesus uld ve ithe world, espeally amongst marginalized people. but what we've done is made it more about us, and it's become kind of one of the biggest, gluttonous feast days on the christian calendar. >> rev. mike slaughter is lead pastor of ginghamsburg church outside dayton, ohio, and author of the book, "christmas is not your birthday," in which he urges people to consider what jesus might like for his birthday. >> what we ne