Mountains of Scripture (8): Mount Hermon

One of the less well-known mountains of the Hebrew Bible is Mount Hermon, the highest mountain in Israel. With a snow-capped summit of 2,814m (9,232 ft), Mount Hermon is 586 metres taller than Australiaโ€™s tallest peak, Mt Kosciuszko (Kunama Namadgi).ย  The mountain range is located at the north-eastern border of modern Israel, between Syria and …

To creed or not to creed

Matthias Stom, โ€œThe Evangelists St Mark and St Luke,โ€ c.1635. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain. As I said in the first post in this series, none of the churches I attended as a child affirmed creeds or confessions of faith. The Bible alone was said to be our rule of faith. While I remain grateful for the spiritual …

Statement by Australian Church leaders on Israel

Archbishop Phillip Aspinall addresses the Heads of Jerusalem Churches at a dinner in Jerusalem, 6 Dec 2007. Photo credit: Rod Benson In December 2007, a delegation of nine Australian Church leaders visited Jerusalem and the Holy Land. I was one of the nine. Seventeen years on, so little has changed. So many have died, and …

Tomatoes filled with goat’s cheese

Last week, Masterchef Australia (season 14) set an invention test where contestants had to create a dish that clearly reflected two cuisines. That set me wondering what I'd cook up if I were in the fabled Melbourne kitchen. I started thinking about Japanese-Italian pairings, and this is what I created. INGREDIENTS 12 truss tomatoes (smaller …

Mountains of Scripture (6): Mount Carmel

An address by Dr Rod Benson on 1 Kings 18:20-46 The Triumph of Elijah Over the Prophets of Baal (c. 1622)Domenico Fettiย (c. 1589 - 1623) The story is one relished by Sunday school teachers and enjoyed by their students โ€“ although someone who supports interfaith dialogue might be less than enthusiastic about some elements of …