2023-11-02

“A deep calm conversation about a very complicated issue”

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

by Neil Godfrey

A deep calm conversation about a very complicated issue. I tried to talk to an audience who never get exposed to our side of the story. No sound bites , no trending phrases , no attempts to score points for reach and views. Just an attempt to have our voices heard. I hope it will be something that will be used for a longer time not just for the heat of the moment. I think it will be aired tomorrow. — Bassem Youssef

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Neil Godfrey

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Latest posts by Neil Godfrey (see all)

Questioning the Hellenistic Date for the Hebrew Bible: Circular Argument - 2024-04-25 09:18:40 GMT+0000
Origin of the Cyrus-Messiah Myth - 2024-04-24 09:32:42 GMT+0000
No Evidence Cyrus allowed the Jews to Return - 2024-04-22 03:59:17 GMT+0000

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"Fantastic. I’m so glad you’re helping to spread these ideas!"

Nancy Fraser - June 2019 (personal email)
"Many thanks for this post, and for the quality of your blog."

— Philippe Wajdenbaum, – November 2018
"Very good. This post is going straight to the March 2016 Biblical Studies Carnival."

—N.T. Wrong, – March 2016
"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)
"Vridar is consistently thought-provoking, well-informed, and asking the right questions. There are intelligent, thoughtful comments and commenters regularly offering productive discussion. Books and publications are covered with a range of perspectives with attempts at fair and accurate representation of others’ arguments and content (where there are occasional and inevitable missteps on that I notice Neil making corrections and apologies where warranted, which wins points with me). Please carry on."

— Gregory Doudna, – January 2019
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-- Jim West, – September 2010
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
"Neil, for what it is worth it is obvious to me that if you had earlier in life tracked into a graduate program at one of the world’s leading research universities you would be one of the world’s formidable ones. You are doing essentially the same quality now (apart from the philology and languages) except mostly sticking to commenting on others’ work as informed comment/discussion."

— Gregory Doudna, – January 2019
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
"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!"

— Eva Mroczek, – June 2017
"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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— April DeConick, – November 2007
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— James McGrath, – June 2009
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
"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."

— Earl Doherty, June 2011
"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
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-- Thomas L. Thompson, - April 2020
"Neil, this is actually rather useful. Good job."

— R. Joseph Hoffmann, – June 2014
"Thanks much for this book review. I think it expands, and contributes to, the effort in honouring Thomas that we with Lukasz originally had in mind with this volume. Best, Emanuel"

-- Emanuel Pfoh - August 2020
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— James Crossley, – April 2010
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-- Klaas Spronk, - Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXI, 3/4 (2014)
"I still wonder at all the material you turn out for Vridar. The more I read your stuff (and I still do, of course), the more I realize how much we all owe you. Your voice is unique."

— Earl Doherty, November 2013 (personal email)
"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)
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— Russell Gmirkin, – October 2016
Congratulations, Vridar, . . . I declare, Vridar, your own hard work translating Bruno Bauer will make a major difference in future studies of Bruno Bauer and the evolution of Hegel’s philosophy of religion.

-- Paul Trejo, - April 2023
"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
"Thanks for your very elaborate review! I realized that I hadn’t added your blog to our blogroll. This oversight has been corrected. Looking forward to more segments."

— Anthony Le Donne, – September 2009

Wayne VanWeerthuizen on The Mysterious John of Revelation: “(I’m not sure why the blog lets me reply to certain comments and not others. I’m not sure if this…” May 3, 03:54
Neil Godfrey on The Mysterious John of Revelation: “The meaning and intended symbolism of what is seen is certainly often debatable, certainly, but what is seen is usually…” May 2, 20:11
Neil Godfrey on The Mysterious John of Revelation: “The two verses do point to a common style of expression for visions and yes, the author of Revelation evidently…” May 2, 20:09
Wayne VanWeerthuizen on The Mysterious John of Revelation: ““unless they explicitly say it is a cadaver.” Yeah, about that, I have two things to say. First, explicit doesn’t…” May 2, 10:55
Wayne VanWeerthuizen on The Mysterious John of Revelation: “Rev 1:12 mentions turning twice. John’s starts to turn because of hearing a sound, then the text somewhat redundantly again…” May 2, 10:54
Neil Godfrey on The Mysterious John of Revelation: “You will have to forgive me, sorry — but I do not see the link between Rev 1:12 and Dan…” May 1, 09:26
Wayne M VanWeerthuizen on The Mysterious John of Revelation: “Next, I’d like to soom discuss other things about the passage other than the sword. For example, what do you…” Apr 29, 23:07
Wayne M VanWeerthuizen on The Mysterious John of Revelation: “I don’t think you’ve grasped the weight of my argument yet. Have you read the draft article I sent you…” Apr 29, 23:06
Neil Godfrey on The Mysterious John of Revelation: “If you are asking me to comment on the idea of the sword being extracted through a mouth, I have…” Apr 29, 05:35

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