Bruno Bauer: Messianic Expectations of the Jews at the Time of Jesus

Other posts arguing against the view that Second Temple Jews were longing for the appearance of a messiah: Were Jews Hoping for a Messiah to Deliver Them from Rome? Raising Doubts (2019-05-07) “The Chosen People Were Not Awaiting the Messiah” (2019-05-05) Myth of popular messianic expectations at the time of Jesus (2017-02-03) Questioning Carrier and … Continue reading “Bruno Bauer: Messianic Expectations of the Jews at the Time of Jesus”


Myth of popular messianic expectations at the time of Jesus

I am copying here a post I just submitted on another forum, so with apologies to readers who have already seen this . . . . This topic is not about “Jewish prophecies of the messiah’s arrival”. It is not about the second century Bar Kochba rebellion. Nor is it even about popular beliefs and attitudes at the time of the 66-73 … Continue reading “Myth of popular messianic expectations at the time of Jesus”


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”


Preface and Contents

Critique of the Gospel History of the Synoptics  by Bruno Bauer  Volume 1.  Leipzig: Otto Wigand, 1841. (machine translated by Neil Godfrey, March 2023) v Preface The point at which we begin the critique of the synoptic Gospels is the following.  The traditional hypothesis, according to which the content of the Gospels had its source … Continue reading “Preface and Contents”


The Day Earl Doherty (author of ‘The Jesus Puzzle’) Personally Entered the Global Forum

Earl Doherty, author the The Jesus Puzzle website, The Jesus Puzzle and Jesus Neither God Nor Man and other books, and contributor to The Journal of Higher Criticism, made his “public appearance” on a biblical scholars forum on Tuesday, the 9th of February, 1999: Crosstalk. In the light of some unfortunate mischaracterizations of the tone … Continue reading “The Day Earl Doherty (author of ‘The Jesus Puzzle’) Personally Entered the Global Forum”


Questioning the apologetic argument for Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem

Let’s assume, as is commonly argued within mainstream biblical scholarship, that there was a very small town of Nazareth in Galilee at the supposed time of Jesus’ birth and let’s assume that the reason Jesus was called “Jesus of Nazareth” was because he grew up in Nazareth, and that the birth narratives in Matthew and … Continue reading “Questioning the apologetic argument for Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem”


Origin of the Myth that the Jews Expected a Messiah

I put Richard Carrier’s arguments on hold in this post in order to point out what another scholar I have not yet cited has had to say about what J. H. Charlesworth calls “the myth that Jews expected a Messiah and knew what functions he would perform.” I would even say William Scott Green‘s opening … Continue reading “Origin of the Myth that the Jews Expected a Messiah”


Questioning Carrier and the “Myth that the Jews Expected a Messiah” (#3)

This is part 3 of my series arguing against the popular notion that the time of Jesus as narrated in the gospels was ablaze with various cults and movements eagerly expecting a messiah to appear as per prophecies or even time-tables found in the Jewish scriptures. My depiction of this supposition as a myth in … Continue reading “Questioning Carrier and the “Myth that the Jews Expected a Messiah” (#3)”


Review: A Shift In Time, Lena Einhorn. A new hypothesis on the origin of the Jesus narrative.

I recently completed reading A Shift in Time: How Historical Documents Reveal the Surprising Truth About Jesus by Lena Einhorn. Lena Einhorn proposes a radical rethink of Christian origins and does so in a welcome methodical and understated manner. Far from being a sensationalist weaving of data into a mesmerizing filigree of yet another conspiracy or gnostic … Continue reading “Review: A Shift In Time, Lena Einhorn. A new hypothesis on the origin of the Jesus narrative.”


Ten Elements of Christian Origin

Richard Carrier addresses the question of the historicity of Jesus in On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt in the following order: First, he defines the points that will identify a historical Jesus and those that will be signs of a mythical one. Second, he set out 48 elements that make up all … Continue reading “Ten Elements of Christian Origin”


Christ among the Messiahs — Part 2

What “Messiah” meant at the time of Paul and the earliest Christians Continuing with notes from Christ among the Messiahs: Christ Language in Paul and Messiah Language in Ancient Judaism by Matthew V. Novenson . The messianic idea We saw in Part 1 that interpreters of Paul have confidently concluded that whatever Paul meant by … Continue reading “Christ among the Messiahs — Part 2”


Did Jesus exist on youtube? Dismantling the “evidence” presented by James McGrath

21:20 Feb 16, Edited to add a quote from Mack in a book, edited by Neusner and others . . . The following is presented by Dr James McGrath on his Did Jesus Exist Youtube video as fundamental evidence for the historical existence of Jesus. It is a standard line, almost a “historicists’ creed”, and … Continue reading “Did Jesus exist on youtube? Dismantling the “evidence” presented by James McGrath”