Search Results for: trump

The Dishonesty of a “Scholarly” Review of Robert Price

Associate Professor of Religion at Butler University, and professing Christian, James McGrath, has written in his review of Price’s chapter, “Jesus at the Vanishing Point”, in The Historical Jesus: Five Views, the following: Crossan rightly highlights that Price’s statement that he will simply skip the matter of the Testimonium Flavianum is “not an acceptable scholarly argument as far … Continue reading “The Dishonesty of a “Scholarly” Review of Robert Price”

A Lewis Carroll satire on McGrath’s methods of historical enquiry

“Herald, read the accusation!” said the King.On this the White Rabbit blew three blasts on the trumpet, and then unrolled the parchment-scroll, and read as follows: “The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, All on a summer day: The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts And took them quite away!” “Consider your verdict,” … Continue reading “A Lewis Carroll satire on McGrath’s methods of historical enquiry”

Kafka’s biblical historians outdo Alice in Wonderland’s trial

In preparing to compose a post on literary criticism and contributions of David Clines, I turned to check a contrasting reference in James McGrath’s The Burial of Jesus and unfortunately got sidetracked with the following blurring of opposing concepts (sorry, Rich — I know, I’ve done this one to death, and I cannot outdo my … Continue reading “Kafka’s biblical historians outdo Alice in Wonderland’s trial”

The Fall of Jericho — inspired by an old Canaanite tale?

Marieke den Braber and Jan-Wim Wesselius published an article that argued the story of Joshua’s besieging of Jericho drew on literary precedents centuries old. Gosh, maybe even the story of the fall of Jericho after 7 days of silence and loud blasts of trumpets on the 7th day was made up too. These are notes … Continue reading “The Fall of Jericho — inspired by an old Canaanite tale?”

An Open Letter to Sarah Palin

An open letter to Sarah Palin, from Marlene Winell, Ph.D. Dear Sarah, As a former fundamentalist, I’d like to call you on what you are doing. This is not about disrespecting your private beliefs.  But you have a huge conflict of interest here by running for office and you can’t have it both ways (see … Continue reading “An Open Letter to Sarah Palin”

Gospel of Mark’s use of Jewish scriptures for Jesus’ Jerusalem entry narrative

Still continuing the Margaret Barker series, but interrupting to toss in a couple of posts on another aspect of the Gospel of Mark in the meantime. This continues from the previous post on Mark 13. Everyone knows how indebted the Passion Narrative is to allusions to the “Old Testament” scriptures (e.g.  Psalm 22), and few … Continue reading “Gospel of Mark’s use of Jewish scriptures for Jesus’ Jerusalem entry narrative”

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?”

‘Fabricating Jesus’ by Craig Evans, Introduction

This is a continuation of my comments on Craig Evans’ Fabricating Jesus (first post is here) — am making here some introductory comments on his book with special focus on his Introduction. Introduction Craig Evans lays out what he sees as the context of book in its Introduction. As he writes passages like We live … Continue reading “‘Fabricating Jesus’ by Craig Evans, Introduction”

The Offering of Isaac: its evolution into . . . Jesus event, 3

Parts 1 and 2 have looked at the evolution of the aqedah through the Second Temple and early rabbinic period — from Levenson’s book. Its retelling moved away from the original Genesis 22 account and became identified with the Passover and all sacrificial lambs. Parallel with this evolutionary branch was another one equally significant. Jewish … Continue reading “The Offering of Isaac: its evolution into . . . Jesus event, 3”

Why did no-one edit gospel gaffes about the Second Coming?

When prophecies of the end fail those who placed their hopes in them commonly attempt to explain and understand differently what they once expected to happen. When Christ failed to return to earth between March 1843 and March 1844, the schedule was re-written as April 1844. When that passed, it was revised again to October … Continue reading “Why did no-one edit gospel gaffes about the Second Coming?”

Ancient forgeries — by lawful decree

Emperor Justinian needed historical precedents for his new codification of law to command the respect of both his citizenry at large and the legal profession in particular. Sometimes controversy rages over the question of whether biblical works have been rewritten, interpolated, redacted, forged . . . In this context it is interesting to observe what … Continue reading “Ancient forgeries — by lawful decree”

10 characteristics of religious fundamentalism

Fundamentalism is a term applied to various Islamic, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Judaic groups, and even to some secular (economic and environmental) groups. All different. Yet Tamas Pataki in his newly published Against Religion lists what he sees as “criss-crossing similarities — family resemblances — in certain basic beliefs, values, and attitudes” (p.27) that characterize … Continue reading “10 characteristics of religious fundamentalism”