Search Results for: crucified messiah offence Jews

A Crucified Messiah Was Not an Offensive Scandal to Jews (with a postscript on evangelical language among scholars)

The idea that Jews would be (actively and aggressively) scandalized by the message of a crucified messiah because of his manner of death should be retired from New Testament scholarship. Paula Fredriksen, Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle This is a topic I’ve posted about before but this time I am sharing Paula Fredriksen’s version of the … Continue reading “A Crucified Messiah Was Not an Offensive Scandal to Jews (with a postscript on evangelical language among scholars)”

Suffering Messiah Is a Very Jewish Idea

Daniel Boyarin is a Jewish scholar of some repute. His work is worth consideration alongside what often amounts to little more than Christian apologetics thinly disguised as disinterested scholarship. In The Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ Boyarin argues that the Christian belief in a suffering messiah who atones for our sins was far … Continue reading “Suffering Messiah Is a Very Jewish Idea”

Was Paul Really Persecuted for Preaching a Crucified Christ?

Was Paul persecuted for preaching a crucified messiah? In 1 Corinthians 1:23 we read that the message of “Christ crucified” was a “stumblingblock” or “offence” to the Jews. There is no explanation to inform us exactly why Jews were so offended by Paul preaching that a messiah had been crucified but that hasn’t prevented many readers from knowing the reason … Continue reading “Was Paul Really Persecuted for Preaching a Crucified Christ?”

Christ among the Messiahs — Part 7

Continuing from Part 6 . . . . The preceding posts have outlined Matthew Novenson’s argument that Paul’s concept of Christ (as expressed throughout his epistles) was entirely consistent with “the formal conventions of ancient Jewish Messiah language” that we would expect in any messianic literature of his era. There are a few passages, however, … Continue reading “Christ among the Messiahs — Part 7”

The Relevance of the Historical Jesus for Christian Faith and Theology

It is easy to think that scholarly interest in the historical Jesus stands independently from the Christ of faith and theological preferences. Don’t theologians “doing history” on the “historical Jesus” come up with a figure who does not align with the Jesus of their faith? Don’t theologian-historians deserve to be credited with hard-nosed intellectual integrity … Continue reading “The Relevance of the Historical Jesus for Christian Faith and Theology”

Ehrman Slipping

Bart Ehrman puts up a pay wall barrier to his blog posts so I have not seen his full article but the teaser he makes public — Why Paul Persecuted the Christians — does not encourage me to want to see more. Questions I would suggest be posed to him by those who are privileged financially to be able to … Continue reading “Ehrman Slipping”

Carrier, Lataster and Another Small Stumbling Block

Raphael Lataster in Jesus Did Not Exist: A Debate Among Atheists shows readers that one does not have to personally like Richard Carrier to agree and critically engage with his arguments. Lataster addresses the “stumbling block” of Carrier’s abrasive blog comments and his promotion of controversial relationships values that have made and makes it clear that in … Continue reading “Carrier, Lataster and Another Small Stumbling Block”

The Flaw in Bart’s Argument for the Jewish Rejection of Jesus

Bart Ehrman continues to address the conventional explanation for why Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah in Another Problem with Calling Jesus the Messiah. That explanation tells us that the Jewish idea of a Messiah or Christ was that he was to be a conquering Davidic King who would overthrow Israel’s enemies and usher in … Continue reading “The Flaw in Bart’s Argument for the Jewish Rejection of Jesus”

Highlights of the David Fitzgerald-Daniel Gullotta Discussion on Miami Valley Skeptics

For anyone who was too lazy or too busy or too technically challenged to listen to the discussion between David Fitzgerald and Daniel Gullotta on the historicity of Jesus here are my notes. Of course things said on the fly are not always what we would exactly say in more considered writing so I welcome … Continue reading “Highlights of the David Fitzgerald-Daniel Gullotta Discussion on Miami Valley Skeptics”

Only by his death does Jesus become historical

The single most solid fact about Jesus’ life is his death: he was executed by the Roman prefect Pilate, on or around Passover, in the manner Rome reserved particularly for Roman insurrectionists, namely, crucifixion. (p.8 of Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews by Paula Fredriksen) The same was said by one of the most … Continue reading “Only by his death does Jesus become historical”

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