Trinity Magazine, Fall 2004

A Bigger Picture of the World

It’s one thing to study Egypt in a classroom in Illinois. It’s entirely another to look up at the Sphinx of Giza with hot desert sand beneath your feet.

During her first semester, Nicole Schouveller and her three friends Dawn Vanden Heuvel, Sarah Taban, and Rebecca Erickson noticed fliers and posters around campus advertising a new spring semester class, “Egypt and the Bible.” The lectures and 11-day tour were led by archaeologist and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School professor Dr. James Hoffmeier.

AIDS and Economics in Africa

Trinity College business professor Dr. Daniel Song’ony has been named by the Africa AIDS Commission the economist most knowledgeable about the effect of AIDS in Africa. Here, in an interview with Trinity doctoral student Gil Odendaal, he discusses his new book Poverty, Inequality, and Economic Development in Africa.

Decoding The Da Vinci Code

by Grant Osborne, PhD, Professor of New Testament

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is a bestselling novel (more than six million thus far) that is decidedly anti-Christian at the core. The plot centers on the search for the Holy Grail (not the chalice, but a crypt with the bones of Mary Magdalene and ancient documents proving the truth about the origins of Christianity). Brown believes that Mary was the wife of Jesus, with their daughter, Sarah, carrying the bloodline (the true “Grail” or sangreal). The problem is that Brown and the publisher claim that the main aspects of this book are all true! Brown’s reconstruction sounds quite convincing on the surface but falls apart when examined closely.

Opinions expressed are those of the contributors or the editors and do not necessarily represent the official position of Trinity International University.