2008-10-19

Modern day Joshuas and Calebs

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

by Neil Godfrey

Jewish settlers punched and kicked two news photographers and a British woman helping Palestinians pick olives in a West Bank town, and Israeli police responded by stopping the harvest.

The scuffle in the town of Hebron on Saturday was the latest of a series of efforts by settlers living in the occupied land to disrupt an annual harvest critical to many Palestinians’ livelihoods.

The rest of this Reuters story — one all too common and becoming significantly increasingly common yet all too under-reported in mainstream English speaking media — can be read here.

Pogroms 21st century style — Death to Arabs!

See journalist Jonathan Cook’s report on the recent Acre riots.

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Neil Godfrey

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Latest posts by Neil Godfrey (see all)

A Beginning of Christianity — An Objection; and the Role of Asceticism - 2025-02-21 01:00:10 GMT+0000
A Beginning of Christianity? — A Closer Look in Antioch - 2025-02-20 11:35:52 GMT+0000
Which One Came First? “Gnostic” ideas or “Orthodox” Christianity? - 2025-02-18 09:25:20 GMT+0000

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"I’ve even been cited by atheists with approval (which I really don’t know how to take, so thanks, I think, but I’m not sure, Vrider (even though I feel like I need to take a shower now))."

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-- Klaas Spronk, - Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXI, 3/4 (2014)
This is superb work, Neil, and reminds me of Albert Schweitzer’s work from a century ago. . . . .

I commend you for being the first to even TRY to translate Bruno Bauer’s brilliant Kritik der Evangelien und Geschichte ihres Ursprungs, which is now more than 150 years old.

. . . . .Thank you for your historic effort.

-- Paul Trejo, M.A., - November 2022
Editor, An English Edition of Bruno Bauer’s 1843 Christianity Exposed
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-- Emanuel Pfoh - August 2020
https://earlywritings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=145080#p145080
Neil made a good synthesis of the work without being an “expert” of the field.

-- Enrico Tuccinardi, - October 2022
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— Earl Doherty, November 2013 (personal email)
"Neil Godfrey and Tim Widowfield, who both write at Vridar . . . happen to be some of the most astute and well-read amateurs you can read on the internet on the subject of biblical historicity. I call them amateurs only for the reason that they don’t have, so far as I know, advanced degrees in the subject. But I have often been impressed with their grasp of logic and analysis of scholarship. I don’t always agree with them, but I respect their work."

— Richard Carrier, – March 2014
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-- Martin Lewadny, - March 2009
"Note that I do not use the term ‘amateur’ pejoratively. . . . In fact, Godfrey is extremely well read and his librarian skills have brought many important academic works to my attention."

Raphael Lataster - August 2019
"I think you have a high quality blog that provides a positive public service by discussing academic topics within a wider audience."

— Russell Gmirkin, – October 2016
"By the way, my thanks to Neil for an ongoing superb job of exposing Jim’s review for what it is: a farcical and none too effective exercise in mythicism assassination, nothing to do with rational, let alone unbiased, scholarship. I’m also happy to see even Jim giving Neil credit where credit is due."

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— Anthony Le Donne, – September 2009
"For an excellent example of generally high-quality scholarship by someone who isn’t a biblical studies professor, see Neil Godfrey’s work posted on the website vridar.org."

— Tom Dykstra, – JOCABS 2015
"I have found your website really valuable as an interpretive filter for Biblical scholarship, especially the origins of Christianity and historicity of Jesus issue. Your clarity of expression, fair comments and personal insights are much valued. I refer to your site frequently as yet more names and publications pop up requiring an academic critique and helpful recommendations for book purchases. So, please continue to delve deeply and share this intellectual sustenance with your grateful readers."

— Mary Booker, – February 2020 (personal email)
"I’d like to thank you for this very nice representation of what I was trying to show in the book. It’s always gratifying when a reader zeroes in on exactly those aspects I thought were most interesting and most central to my argument. Thank you for this careful and engaged reading of my work – much appreciated!"

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— James McGrath, – June 2009
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Nancy Fraser - June 2019 (personal email)
It is worth saying another word of appreciation here for Neil Godfrey's effort to make Bruno Bauer accessible in English.

-- Peter Kirby, - May 2023
"Neil, in my mature judgement (I am now an old man), this fine 4-part study is a brilliant reworking, an instructive restatement of Hayden White’s Metahistory (and his subsequent writings). Your critique of certain historiographic representations as imbedded in the case study of the “scientistic”, “empirical” Richard Carrier provides a solid starting point for the more honest “fictive” reading of the New Testament that you encourage. Your last paragraph is a very intelligent call to sensitive readers of these texts. I suspect a whole generation of biblical students has been educated without the insights provided by the incomparable White. Bravo!"

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-- Paul Trejo, - April 2023
"Neil, You’ve done a clean job in your posting on ‘Jesus the Healer’. It reflects well on you. Best, John"

— John Moles, September 2011 (personal email)

RParvus on A Beginning of Christianity? — A Closer Look in Antioch: “First, note that there is a textual problem that has been noticed by many. In Acts 19:14 it says seven…” Feb 22, 19:37
Neil Godfrey on A Beginning of Christianity? — A Closer Look in Antioch: “I think you’ve let the horses run a little wild here 😉 — but yeh, some ideas can lead to…” Feb 21, 23:15
Neil Godfrey on A Beginning of Christianity — An Objection; and the Role of Asceticism: “But as for that point about oral tradition being unjustified — I do recall Thomas Brodie calling it out in…” Feb 21, 03:09
Neil Godfrey on A Beginning of Christianity — An Objection; and the Role of Asceticism: “Yes, I did read it and should refresh my memory of it by returning to my marked digital copy. I…” Feb 21, 02:52
Clarke W Owens on A Beginning of Christianity — An Objection; and the Role of Asceticism: “Robyn Faith Walsh, in The Origins of Early Christian Literature, argues that reliance on oral traditions and early communities is…” Feb 21, 02:28
RParvus on A Beginning of Christianity? — A Closer Look in Antioch: “Neil, I know I’ve been rightly accused of excess speculation, but sometimes I can’t help myself. I will blurt this…” Feb 20, 23:26
Neil Godfrey on A Beginning of Christianity? — A Closer Look in Antioch: “I don’t know that Justin was using a harmony of the gospels. He flat out contradicts the Gospels and Acts…” Feb 20, 21:23
Neil Godfrey on A Beginning of Christianity? — A Closer Look in Antioch: “I am relying on Justin Martyr where he says in his Dialogue with Trypho: These men call themselves Christians in…” Feb 20, 21:17
Neil Godfrey on A Beginning of Christianity? — A Closer Look in Antioch: “Probably. Some scholars do argue that point. But I think they all work with the gnostic-orthodoxy model on the assumption…” Feb 20, 21:14

Pogroms 21st century style — Death to Arabs!

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