How John Used Mark: Investigating the Methods of the Fourth Evangelist (Part 3)

Part 3: John Displaces and Rewrites the Cleansing of the Temple All four evangelists recount Jesus’ cleansing of the temple at Jerusalem. The Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) place the event during the week before the crucifixion, while John sets it near the very start of Jesus’ ministry. In the ancient church, many, if not … Continue reading “How John Used Mark: Investigating the Methods of the Fourth Evangelist (Part 3)”


How John Used Mark: Investigating the Methods of the Fourth Evangelist (Part 2)

Part 2: A Markan Sandwich in John’s Gospel Scholars have long noted that both the gospel of John and Mark interrupt the story of Peter’s denial with Jesus’ hearing before the Sanhedrin (Mark) or Annas (John). Both authors begin with Peter in the courtyard in the predawn hours, pause the story to describe Jesus’ initial … Continue reading “How John Used Mark: Investigating the Methods of the Fourth Evangelist (Part 2)”


How John Used Mark: Investigating the Methods of the Fourth Evangelist (Part 1)

Part 1: Turning Mark Inside Out In a comment to Neil’s post, Discovering the Sources for the First Gospel, 3 — Criteria, from way back in May of 2012, I introduced a way to explain how the Fourth Evangelist may have used the Gospel of Mark. It might not be a novel approach — there is … Continue reading “How John Used Mark: Investigating the Methods of the Fourth Evangelist (Part 1)”


How Moving Jesus’ Cleansing of the Temple to the Beginning of the Gospel of John Rebuked the Gospel of Mark

Why did the author of the Gospel of John change the setting of Jesus driving out the money changers from the Temple from near the end of the gospel (where it is in all the other gospels) to place it near the very beginning of the ministry of Jesus? In those other gospels the episode … Continue reading “How Moving Jesus’ Cleansing of the Temple to the Beginning of the Gospel of John Rebuked the Gospel of Mark”


Where does John the Baptist fit in History? — The Evidence of Josephus, Pt 7

Continuing and concluding…..  Peter Kirby cites an argument for interpolation not from a source agreeing with the argument but rather from a source disposing of it. He quotes Robert Webb: A second argument is that the nouns used for ‘baptism’ in this text (βαπτισμός and βάπτισις, Ant. 18.117) are not found elsewhere in the Josephan … Continue reading “Where does John the Baptist fit in History? — The Evidence of Josephus, Pt 7”


Where does John the Baptist fit in History? — The Evidence of Josephus, Pt 5

Continuing …… Peter Kirby focussed on the following point in his article arguing for the authenticity of the John the Baptist passage in Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus: (14) The Word for “Baptism” in the Passage Uncharacteristic of Christian Usage Kirby cited the scholar Robert Webb who pointed out that the words for “baptism” … Continue reading “Where does John the Baptist fit in History? — The Evidence of Josephus, Pt 5”


Where does John the Baptist fit in History? — The Evidence of Josephus, Pt 4

Continuing…. (3) The Passage’s Reference to God’s Punishment of Herod Peter Kirby asserts that contradictory viewpoints in Josephus are no reason to suspect the involvement of an alien hand somewhere in the transmission of our manuscripts. He quotes my (somewhat facile) paraphrase of Zindler’s point: Neil Godfrey notes another one of the reasons that Zindler … Continue reading “Where does John the Baptist fit in History? — The Evidence of Josephus, Pt 4”


Where does John the Baptist fit in History? — The Evidence of Josephus, Pt 3

Continuing…. Above all else, it is the early Jewish-Christian volume of the Pseudo-Clementine writings that provides the most striking parallel to Johannine baptism [in Antiquities of the Jews] In this post I begin by addressing Peter Kirby’s final argument against Rivka Nir’s case for the John the Baptist passage in Josephus’s Antiquities being an interpolation. … Continue reading “Where does John the Baptist fit in History? — The Evidence of Josephus, Pt 3”


Where does John the Baptist fit in History? — The Evidence of Josephus, Pt 2

Continuing to respond to The Authenticity of John the Baptist in Josephus. The previous two posts — 1. Where does John the Baptist fit in History? (Or, the Place of Fact and Opinion in History) 2. Where does John the Baptist fit in History? — The Evidence of Josephus, Pt 1 I would like to … Continue reading “Where does John the Baptist fit in History? — The Evidence of Josephus, Pt 2”


The Gospel of Mark’s Jesus as a Fearful – yet Merciful – God

In the previous post I tried to explain my startled response when, many years ago, I first read the Gospel of Mark in a translation that muffled familiar associations with the other gospels. I recall being left with a feeling of some horror, of a Jesus who was certainly not a human-loveable Lukan figure welcoming … Continue reading “The Gospel of Mark’s Jesus as a Fearful – yet Merciful – God”


§ 17. Concluding remark

Critique of the Gospel of John by Bruno Bauer —o0o— 396 § 17. Concluding remark. We can now bear it with a calm conscience, since we can easily show the refutation in our work, if the apologist, instead of grasping the possibility of criticism, in holy zeal reviles the critic, insults him, and brands him … Continue reading “§ 17. Concluding remark”


§ 6. The collision of the baptism of Jesus with that of John

Critique of the Gospel of John by Bruno Bauer —o0o— 106 §6. The collision of the baptism of Jesus with that of John. 3:22-36. ———– 1) The jealousy of John’s disciples 3:22-26. As if he were only in his place in Judea, Jesus, when he leaves Jerusalem, goes into the open country and travels around … Continue reading “§ 6. The collision of the baptism of Jesus with that of John”


BRUNO BAUER: Critique of the Gospel of John – English translation

With the assistance of machine translation tools I have been making some of Bruno Bauer’s key works on New Testament criticism available in English. This page links to BB’s chapters on his Criticism of the Gospel of John, published in 1840. I will continue to add more chapters as (a) attempt to proof-read translations for … Continue readingBRUNO BAUER: Critique of the Gospel of John – English translation”