Today is the birthday of legendary wizard john Dee. Who was John Dee? He is virtually unknown in modern times, although he has had a profound influence on popular culture- without John Dee, there would be no Harry Potter, no Gandalf, no archetypal storybook wizard bearing a crystal ball...

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This week's issue of Time magazine carries a story of enormous import in the religious world (meaning it will likely be ignored for another decade). The piece is written by David Van Biema and concerns an unassuming looking stone tablet thought to be related to the Dead Sea Scrolls. The tablet, which dates to a period just before the birth of Christ, contains an apocalyptic narrative in the voice of the angel Gabriel, and mentioning a messiah who will die and be resurrect in three day's time- a concept often believed to be unique to the Christian faith and the life narrative of Jesus. What is to come of this interesting artifact remains to be seen.

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