Search Results for: james the brother of the lord

More nonsense from biblical archaeologists: turning a Taliban text into a proclamation of human rights and dignity!

Two archaeologists, one Israeli (Israel Finkelstein) and one American (Neil Asher Silberman), have bizarrely managed to repackage a Taliban-like ancient biblical legal code into a modern enlightened expression of human rights, human liberation and social equality. Presumably this is done in order to preserve some (mythical) legitimacy for traditional claims among certain Jewish quarters that … Continue reading “More nonsense from biblical archaeologists: turning a Taliban text into a proclamation of human rights and dignity!”

How Philo might have understood Christ in the NT epistles

Philo was a Jewish philosopher in Egypt who died around 50 ce. Much of his literary work was an attempt to explain Jewish beliefs in the language of Greek (or Hellenistic) philosophers. Curiously (for us at least) he spoke of “a second God” who was a manifestation of “the High God”. This second God was … Continue reading “How Philo might have understood Christ in the NT epistles”

An Old Testament Messiah Struck Down by God

A modern reader will be excused for not seeing at first glance any connection between King Saul as an anointed one (i.e. “messiah”) and the concept of messiah as it applies to Jesus. But Thomas L. Thompson has brought out some interesting concepts in common. Saul was a messiah of Israel, and as a messiah … Continue reading “An Old Testament Messiah Struck Down by God”

Peter and the 12 Disciples; Satan and the Fallen Watchers

Continuing from Rick Strelan’s article notes in Fallen Watchers of Enoch and the 12 Disciples in Mark’s Gospel I’m taking notes from Strelan’s article without much modification and only little of my own comment. Readers can decide for themselves the strength of his case, how suggestive it might be . . . . The Gospel of … Continue reading “Peter and the 12 Disciples; Satan and the Fallen Watchers”

How and Why Scholars Fail to Rebut Earl Doherty

Anyone who is familiar with Earl Doherty’s site will probably find this post superfluous. The mysterious origin of R. Joseph Hoffmann’s views of Doherty Dr Jeffrey Gibson is on record as saying he has no intention of reading any of Doherty’s books but that did not prevent him from pulling out a critical line from … Continue reading “How and Why Scholars Fail to Rebut Earl Doherty”

Jesus and the lotus petals, and the missing dimension in historical Jesus studies

The strangest thought hit me while sight-seeing yet another Buddhist shrine or worship area – this time in the Ancient Siam park (official site still calls it The Ancient City). Attached to (certainly nearby) probably every Buddhist public temple area is a place where one can buy appropriate offerings (such as flowers, prayer sticks, candles) … Continue reading “Jesus and the lotus petals, and the missing dimension in historical Jesus studies”

Luke Timothy Johnson’s Response to Robert Price

In The Historical Jesus: Five Views, Luke Timothy Johnson responds to the 5 principles for historical enquiry as laid out by Robert M. Price in his opening chapter of that book. I discussed these in overview in my recent 5 more commandments post. The five are: 1. The Principle of Analogy 2. The Criterion of … Continue reading “Luke Timothy Johnson’s Response to Robert Price”

The imaginary siblings of Jesus

The Gospel narratives provide strong positive evidence for why their authors chose to write about Jesus’ siblings. They explicitly meet a clear and specific requirement for the portrayal of a man of God who is to both follow and emulate the prophets who came before him. They also serve to illustrate a moral instruction of … Continue reading “The imaginary siblings of Jesus”

Gospel of Luke, reconciler of the Herod and Pilate gospel narratives?

Further thoughts from earlier post on rival gospel traditions. . . . . It is easy to overlook that the gospels of John and Luke say that the Jews themselves, not Roman soldiers, crucified Jesus with Pilate’s permission. This is as is narrated in the Gospel of Peter and elsewhere, as per the above post. … Continue reading “Gospel of Luke, reconciler of the Herod and Pilate gospel narratives?”

Jewish Scriptures in Mark’s Passion and Resurrection Narratives

For the sake of completeness I have to tag these notes (Gospel of Mark 14:1 -16:8) alongside the previous two looking at chapters 11-12 (entry into Jerusalem) and chapter 13 (Olivet prophecy). Once again: Red are the quotations Purple are the allusions Blue are the influences Black  italics represent material from sources other than Kee … Continue reading “Jewish Scriptures in Mark’s Passion and Resurrection Narratives”

The little apocalypse of Mark 13 – historical or creative prophecy?

The “little apocalypse” or “Olivet prophecy” of Mark 13, Matthew 24 and Luke 21 is often cited as a key passage for dating the gospels. The idea is to match the events described in this passage with what seems to be the best fit historically. Others have questioned whether we are right to attempt to … Continue reading “The little apocalypse of Mark 13 – historical or creative prophecy?”

The Twelve Disciples: their names, name-meanings, associations, etc

This post is nothing more than a bit of idle trivia per se. But maybe Kakadu Dreamtime wisdom somewhere says “Clever bower bird can find something among trivia to relocate so it has power to attract a mate.” The data comes primarily (not exclusively) from two sources: The Gospel of Mark as Midrash on Earlier … Continue reading “The Twelve Disciples: their names, name-meanings, associations, etc”

Reasons for Luke to change Mark’s account of the calling of the disciples

Someone on a discussion list recently drew attention to how the Gospel of Luke changes the position of the call of the disciples to a period later than that found in the Gospel of Mark, so that it appears awkwardly out of place. Mark first describes Jesus calling Peter and others before going into Peter’s … Continue reading “Reasons for Luke to change Mark’s account of the calling of the disciples”

The Isaac and Joseph Christologies; & rivalry for Scripture & Father

This post concludes the series outlining key aspects of Levenson’s argument that the Christian narrative of the atoning and saving death and resurrection of the Beloved (Only) Son was borrowed from late Second Temple Jewish midrashic interpretations of their scriptures about Isaac, Joseph and others. While the cosmic significance of this event is attributed to … Continue reading “The Isaac and Joseph Christologies; & rivalry for Scripture & Father”