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Moreover, while the narrative in the synoptics situates the Last Supper during Passover, the fact remains that the only foods we are told the disciples ate are bread and wine—the basic elements of any formal Jewish meal.

“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant’” (Matthew 26:26–28=Mark 14:22; see also Luke 22:19–20). Is this not a striking parallel to the ways in which Jews celebrating the Seder interpret, for example, the bitter herbs eaten with the Passover sacrifice as representing the bitter life the Israelites experienced as slaves in Egypt?

For many Jews (especially non-Orthodox Jews), the process of development continues, and many modern editions of the Haggadah contain contemporary readings of one sort or another. Even many traditional Jews have, for instance, adapted the Haggadah so that mention can be made of the Holocaust.8

As Richard Bauckham has pointed out (and his role in our debate was most interesting, and again illustrated that I really do not believe Dr. Ally understands my point on this matter), the eyewitnesses to the events of the gospel continued in the church for many decades, forming a very important core element of the continuation of the gospel message.

The gospel story began to be proclaimed by the eyewitnesses and the first generation of believers immediately after Pentecost. It spread like wildfire, turning the world upside down. It spread both by zeal as well as by persecution. The oral tradition of the church was the context out of which the gospels themselves were written. The gospel writers were fully aware of that tradition. They were not seeking to supplant it, but to organize it and preserve it in yet another form.

This oral tradition, something shared by the entire community, is the source out of which they drew their narrative.

Neuroscience sheds light on how fasting and other spiritual disciplines work by training our subconscious mental processes.

our conscious self is far less in control over who you are and what you do than you realize.  "We are not the ones driving the boat of our behavior," says neuroscientist David Eagleman.

Jesus expected that dietary restriction would be a part of our spiritual practice. "When you fast," he said, not if.

Neuroscientist Steven Pinker on the triumph of peace and prosperity over death and destruction

Why is ideology so deadly?

There are two features of a lot of ideologies that make them deadly. One of them is demonizing.

There is no doubt that such prejudice exists. But there is no doubt, too, that cries of “Islamophobia” are issued to suffocate argument, to deflect or deter analysis of some behaviour that is factually related to Islam. There is no doubt either that some Muslims have acted as terrorists, either singly, or in association with various Islamist groups. To point this out is not a phobia, but a simple respect for reality.

It’s not Islamophobia to call a jihadist, a jihadist

there also have been calls suggesting that any reference to the Islamist terrorist connections of the killer would be a species of Islamophobia. This is pure nonsense and folly.

Mark 5:21-42

Do not be afraid any longer, only [h]believe.”