A cross erected on the side of a mountain overlooking Faraya in Lebanon, Nov. 4, 2023. (Illustrative photo by Matthieu Karam/L’Orient Today)
When Pope John Paul II declared in 1989 that "Lebanon is more than a country, it is a message," it was likely in reference to the country being mentioned nearly 70 times in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.Lebanon, cited either directly or through its specific localities, appears as a land of fertility, promise and spiritual heritage. What image does the Holy Book give of Lebanon, and in what context is this geographical area of the time mentioned?"Lebanon appears in the Bible in the context of historical events that the region experienced for about a millennium and a half, between 1300 BC and 100 AD," explains Issa Diab, professor of Semitic, Abrahamic and Biblical studies at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) and the Near East School of Theology in Beirut. Catch up with the pope's imminient itinerary...
When Pope John Paul II declared in 1989 that "Lebanon is more than a country, it is a message," it was likely in reference to the country being mentioned nearly 70 times in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.Lebanon, cited either directly or through its specific localities, appears as a land of fertility, promise and spiritual heritage. What image does the Holy Book give of Lebanon, and in what context is this geographical area of the time mentioned?"Lebanon appears in the Bible in the context of historical events that the region experienced for about a millennium and a half, between 1300 BC and 100 AD," explains Issa Diab, professor of Semitic, Abrahamic and Biblical studies at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) and the Near East School of Theology in Beirut. Catch up with the pope's imminient itinerary...
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