Day: January 17, 2010

2010-01-17

Paul’s understanding of the Earthly Leprechaun (not necessarily Historical) Jesus

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by Neil Godfrey

Filed under: Biblical Studies, New Testament
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This post addresses an argument that is found well beyond the covers of Eddy and Boyd. Nevertheless, I have been discussing in this blog bits of Eddy’s and Boyd’s case for refuting what they label the “‘legendary Jesus’ thesis” and defending the historicity of Jesus, and to mention them here seems an appropriate anchor. One of their discussions I have not yet covered is about Paul’s apparent silence about the life of the human Jesus.

Eddy and Boyd write:

In this [the “legendary-Jesus theorists”] view, Paul’s silence indicates that he did not view Jesus as a recent historical figure. (p. 201)

What E&B mean by “legendary Jesus theorists” covers a range of views including those who propose there was no historical person at all:

In this work, we will use “legend” in its more popular sense of a substantially nonhistorical/fictional story. (p.13)

Here is Eddy and Boyd’s list of Paul’s references (my numbering) to a “recent historical Jesus” (p. 209): Continue reading “Paul’s understanding of the Earthly Leprechaun (not necessarily Historical) Jesus”

Other Fragments of the Gospel of Judas

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

by Neil Godfrey

Filed under: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, Biblical Studies
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The recent National Geographic translation of the Gospel of Judas was not based on all the fragments. Some of these had been apparently withheld, fraudulently.

April DeConick has linked to preliminary (private use only) translations by Professor Marvin Meyer of these other Tchacos fragments of the Gospel of Judas. See her post, Ohio Fragments of the Gospel of Judas.

An excerpt on how these fragments came to be separated from the main collection and their significance by Herb Krosney:

All that changed, dramatically, on March 17th, 2008, . . . Ferrini not only admitted that he had withheld materials in 2001.  He also . . . . returned to the court an hour or so later with a sort of lawyer’s briefcase with what appeared to be full page fragments inside.

These were delivered to the custody of the court-appointed receiver, . . . . No one in the know . . . . were allowed to see the photographs, . . . .

The photographs were sent to Prof. Gregor Wurst, . . . .

Gregor Wurst was amazed.  What he discovered within these materials was essentially the balance of the Gospel of Judas.  He could not show the photographs even to his closest colleagues – according to the obligations undertaken in good faith in Ohio.

I have discussed April DeConick’s views in outline previously, including a review of her book on the National Geographic translation of the Gospel of Judas. (See my Judas archive.)

April and others have given reasons for questioning the National Geographic translation that presents Judas as the hero.