Ryan Mauro Interview: Mountain of Moses: Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia - CBN News

What is Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is a country in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. With a land area of approximately 2,150,000 km2 (830,000 sq mi), Saudi Arabia is geographically the largest sovereign state in the Middle East, the 2nd largest in the Arab world (after Algeria), the 5th largest in Asia, and the 12th largest in the world. Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south; most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland and mountains. As of October 2018, the Saudi economy was the largest in the Middle East and the 18th largest in the world. Saudi Arabia also enjoys one of the world's youngest populations; 50% of its 33.4 million people are under 25 years old.

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What is Mount Sinai?
Mount Sinai is a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt that is a possible location of the biblical Mount Sinai, which is considered a holy site by the Abrahamic religions. Mount Sinai is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus and other books of the Bible, and the Quran. According to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition, the biblical Mount Sinai was the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments.

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Who is Ryan Mauro?
Ryan Mauro is the Director of the Clarion Intelligence Network, a division of the non-profit Clarion Project, where he also serves as an international security analyst and Shillman Fellow. He is a regular commentator in the media and has worked as an adjunct professor teaching counter-terrorism.

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Who are CBN News?
CBN News is the national and international news division of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), a nonprofit Protestant Christian media ministry. Operating for over 40 years, the network provides 24-hour fact-based reporting designed to cover breaking news, politics, health, and entertainment through the lens of faith.

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What is Sin?
In Abrahamic contexts, sin is the act of violating God's will. Sin can also be viewed as anything that violates the ideal relationship between an individual and God; or as any diversion from the ideal order for human living. To sin has been defined as "to miss the mark". Sins fall in a spectrum from minor errors to deadly misdeeds. Catholicism regards the least corrupt sins as venial sins which are part of human living and carry immediate consequences on earth, and, if unrepented for, more painful purgation, assuming the person is destined to heaven, as it is written in the formation letter "Purgatory", "most of the early Fathers of the Church speak of a cleansing fire, though we cannot tell whether this means actual or spiritual fire." Conversely, sins of great evil are mortal sins which bring the consequence of hell if they are not addressed either through an act of perfect contrition or going to confession about them.

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