Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
To continue from the first part first part of this post: The Double Bind For the similar quandary on the question of Jesus as the Messiah in Pauline scholarship Reynolds directs readers to a section of Novenson’s Christ Among the Messiahs; coincidentally the section he cites has been set out in an earlier post here: … Continue reading “The Gospel of John as a form of Jewish Messianism? (Part 2)”
The tendency within New Testament studies is not to consider that the Johannine perspective might possibly reflect a Jewish sectarian perspective, but to see John and the Johannine Jesus, who is Messiah, as anti-Jewish. A recent publication with a challenging title and edited by Benjamin E. Reynolds and Gabriele Boccaccini is Reading the Gospel of … Continue reading “The Gospel of John as a source for Jewish Messianism? (Part 1)”
It is widely accepted that around the time Jesus is said to have appeared the people of Judea were eagerly anticipating a Messiah to come at any moment and deliver them from their Roman conquerors. I have sought for evidence to support this claim expressed so often in the scholarly land popular literature. To date, … Continue reading “Questioning Carrier and the Common View of a “Rash of Messianism” at the time of Jesus”
A number of readers have questioned my own questioning of a popular belief and claim by Richard Carrier that Palestine in the early first century CE was experiencing a rash of messianism. I suggest on the contrary that evidence for popular messianism does not appear until the Jewish War in the latter half of the first century. … Continue reading “Historical Conditions for Popular Messianism — Christian, Muslim and Palestinian”
Recently, I happened to notice a post on James McGrath’s site concerning a paper by Tom Thatcher about Jesus as a healer and a “controversialist.” As I take it, that term describes a figure who is no mere contrarian, but rather one who makes controversial statements or engages in controversial actions to stimulate debate or to educate and … Continue reading “Metonymy, Messianism, and Historicity in the New Testament”
In the previous post we saw how Clarke W. Owens (Son of Yahweh: The Gospels as Novels) drew the inference that the evangelists created the type of Jesus they did because of the impact of the Jewish War. Just as the Jewish people and their centre of worship had been destroyed through fire and mass … Continue reading “Constructing Jesus and the Gospels: Messianism and Survival post 70 CE”
Why did a transnational revolt, with the Jews at its centre, erupt in 116, capable of seriously challenging the Roman empire, which at that very moment had reached the phase of its greatest expansion? . . . What events, in 115 and then 116 CE, first led to Greek-Jewish clashes in Mediterranean cities, and then … Continue reading “Rebellion of the Diaspora — the world in which Christianity and Judaism were moulded”
How we would love to know more about the times between the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE and the crushing of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE. That period is surely a decisive one for how both Christianity and Judaism developed into what they are today. Some have suggested that this period saw … Continue reading “Reconstructing the Matrix from which Christianity and Judaism Emerged”
Other posts arguing against the view that Second Temple Jews were longing for the appearance of a messiah: Were Jews Hoping for a Messiah to Deliver Them from Rome? Raising Doubts (2019-05-07) “The Chosen People Were Not Awaiting the Messiah” (2019-05-05) Myth of popular messianic expectations at the time of Jesus (2017-02-03) Questioning Carrier and … Continue reading “Bruno Bauer: Messianic Expectations of the Jews at the Time of Jesus”
Hi. I’m back again, for better or for worse. Over the past few weeks I have immersed myself in reading but have finally come to a point where I need to pause and take stock. The book I have to blame for pulling me up and forcing me to stop and think afresh is König … Continue reading “New Thoughts on Christian Origins”
How or from where did Christianity get the idea that the Messiah was also the Son of God? It is easy to get the idea that the standard belief among scholars is that there was a gradual evolution of Christological concepts, that over time Jesus became ever more exalted in the minds of worshipers. But … Continue reading “When the Messiah Became the Son of God in Early Jewish Thought”
Continuing the series Charbonnel: Jesus Christ sublime figure de papier . . . A Messiah to combine the different messianic visions Nanine Charbonnel [NC] has been exploring various ways the Jesus figure of the gospels was drawn to embody certain groups of people and now proceeds to discuss the way our evangelists (gospel authors) also found … Continue reading “Jesus embodies all the Jewish Messiahs — continuing Jésus-Christ, Sublime Figure de Papier”
Responses to some points made in a larger argument for the historicity of Jesus, Another Jesus Mythicism Discussion (I posted then soon deleted much of what follows about three weeks ago. My initial post was couched in a misunderstanding about the background to the original post.) I did return to the original site to continue … Continue reading ““Another Mythicist Discussion” Revisited”
I do care about bad history. — O’Neill (13 min 50 sec) Bad history is carelessly getting basic facts wrong. It is also failing to acknowledge and engage honestly with other points of view concerning the sources. Two instances of “bad history” At about 27 minutes we are told that “mythers” say there is no … Continue reading “Bad History for Atheists (2) — Troubles Reading the Sources and Engaging with Different Viewpoints”