People Look East

This is an ancient depiction of Christ as the pagan god Helios. The Greeks explained the rising and setting of the sun as the riding of Helios with his fiery chariot from east to west. Christians, pagans, and Jews prayed facing east, to the rising sun. Father Johansen gives an excellent account of this and its implication for Christian worship on his blog meditation on the hymn, "People Look East."

Did Thera's Blowup Knock Out the Hittites?

The historical origin of the Atlantis legend is the destruction wrought by the volcano on the island of Thera or Santorini three thousand five hundred years ago. The actual event had gotten dislocated in its transmission from the Egyptians through Solon to Plato (our source of the legend.)

This catastrophic explosion fatally damaged the Minoan civilization and apparently damaged the ruling elite' grip on ancient Egypt. Watch a video from the National Geographic society about it.