Chapter 11 of How the Gospels Became History again makes for fascinating reading as M. David Litwa explores in some depth the idea of the scapegoat in Greek myth as one part of the cultural and mythical context in which the gospels were written. The technical (Greek) term is pharmakos [link is to a brief … Continue reading “Review, part 11. Comparing the Lives and Deaths of Aesop and Jesus (Litwa: How the Gospels Became History)”
Like this:
Like Loading...
Short answer, the one I would give if I had to bet my house on being right: I don’t know. Short answer, but one I would offer at no risk of damages to myself if I am wrong: Probably. In two recent posts I was commenting on thoughts arising as I was reading about the … Continue reading “Did Aesop Exist?”
Like this:
Like Loading...
Sleepy me forgot to include the main thought that led to the argument of the previous post. Reflecting on Hägg’s point about the Life of Aesop being produced at a time when interest in Aesop was the fashion of the day, the question I was asking myself was: When do we see an interest in … Continue reading “Aesop / 2, a Guide to a Late Gospel of Mark Date”
Like this:
Like Loading...
Is it possible that our canonical gospels, even the apparently pioneering Gospel of Mark, were really composed well into the second century? The possibility has been argued by a few and I don’t discount it. I often find myself suspecting it is true although very often for the sake of argument I will assume that at … Continue reading “Aesop, Guide to a Very Late Date for the Gospels?”
Like this:
Like Loading...
Several times I’ve referred to comparisons between the ancient tale of Aesop with the gospel accounts of Jesus, referring readers to Lawrence Wills’ book, The quest of the historical gospel : Mark, John, and the origins of the gospel genre, and Whitney Shiner’s chapter “Creating Plot in Episodic Narratives: The Life of Aesop and the Gospel of Mark” in … Continue reading “Lawrence Wills: “The Life of Aesop and the Hero Cult Paradigm in the Gospel Tradition””
Like this:
Like Loading...
276 VI. Hadrian and Christian Gnosis. 1. The Empowered Nero. Among the five emperors who, after the fall of the last Flavian, allowed the Senate free hand in legislation, Hadrian occupies the same position as Nero in the line of Julio-Claudian princes. Those five had risen above the embittered mood with which the first emperors … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Christ and the Caesars – VI. Hadrian and Christian Gnosis”
Like this:
Like Loading...
All posts reviewing Nathanael Vette’s Writing With Scripture are archived at Vette : Writing With Scripture With thanks to T&T Clark who forwarded me a review copy. I have come to a turning point in my reading and review of Nathanael Vette’s Writing With Scripture. I first learned of the book on the Biblical Criticism … Continue reading “Clarification of the Thesis — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 8”
Like this:
Like Loading...
Previous installments: How and Why the Gospel of Mark Used Scripture — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 1 Creating New Stories from Scripture — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 2 To What Shall We Compare the Gospels? — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 3 Nathanael Vette (NV) is demonstrating … Continue reading “Creating Pseudo-History (and Comedy) from Scripture — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 4”
Like this:
Like Loading...
When I offered to post a comprehensive review of Writing With Scripture by Nathanael Vette the publisher sent me a copy and now I hope this first in a series of reviews will begin to do justice to all concerned and interested. I write primarily as a layman for interested lay readers. Who is Nathanael … Continue reading “How and Why the Gospel of Mark Used Scripture — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 1”
Like this:
Like Loading...
We know the story of Elisha retrieving the iron axe head by having it float to the surface of a river. It is in 2 Kings 6:1-7: The company of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, … Continue reading “From Hermes to Yahweh”
Like this:
Like Loading...
Think of the world from which Christianity emerged and mystery religions easily come to mind. That may be a mistake. A more relevant context, influencers and rivals were the popular philosophers and their schools in the first and second centuries. The Jew and the Christian offered religions as we understand religion; the others offered cults; … Continue reading “Jesus (and Paul) in the Ancient Philosopher Tradition”
Like this:
Like Loading...
The previous posts in this series: 25th August 2020 (introduction and Part 1 and half of Part 2) 27th August 2020 (completion of Part 2) 28th August 2020 (first half of Part 3) This post concludes my overview of the festschrift to Thomas L. Thompson on his 80th birthday. I hope to post soon a … Continue reading “conclusion … Biblical Narratives, Archaeology, Historicity – Essays in Honour of Thomas L. Thompson”
Like this:
Like Loading...
This post follows on from A Midrashic Hypothesis for the Gospels . We are going through Jésus-Christ, Sublime Figure de Papier by Nanine Charbonnel. All posts so far are archived at Charbonnel: Jesus Christ sublime figure de papier. Nanine Charbonnel [NC] at this point begins to study how the fictive figure of Jesus in the … Continue reading “How Jewish Gospels Became Christian Gospels”
Like this:
Like Loading...
[I have copied the following comment by Greg Doudna to a post here so the thoughts do not get lost in the comments section and are easier to read and engage with. Format slightly changed — Neil] –o– The argument that the “we” passages of Acts are an origin story of the church at Rome … Continue reading “Guest Post: Further Thoughts on the “We Passages” in Acts”
Like this:
Like Loading...