Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
It seems hardly a month passes without somebody on Vridar bringing up Galatians 1:19, in which Paul refers to James as the “brother of the Lord.” Recently I ran a search for the phrase here, and after reading each post, it struck me how much time we’ve spent wondering what it means and so little time asking why … Continue reading “The Function of “Brother of the Lord” in Galatians 1:19″
Some of the following posts are my comparisons of James McGrath’s criticisms and Earl Doherty’s original arguments. Others are by Doherty himself. Interview with Earl Doherty A James McGrath–Earl Doherty Exchange Earl Doherty’s Antidotes for a James McGrath Menu. Continuing Earl Doherty’s antidotes for James McGrath’s Menu Items 7 to 12 Earl Doherty’s concluding responses … Continue reading “Earl Doherty’s response to James McGrath‘s “review” of JNGNM & other criticisms (& misc)”
Steven Carr has drawn our attention to Dr R. Joseph Hoffmann’s argument that Paul’s reference in Galatians 1:19 to “James, the brother of the Lord”, was clearly not meant to be understood by Paul as an indicator that James was the biological brother of Jesus. He wrote in The Jesus Tomb Debacle: RIP: The James … Continue reading “Hoffmann: James was NOT the biological brother of Jesus”
Ron Goetz posted a comment elsewhere that reminded me of the works of Walter Schmithals on Paul’s letters. The one I have read most of, Paul & the Gnostics, is not the easiest of reads but is packed densely with detailed argument and detailed references to the scholarship of his day. But it does force … Continue reading “Reading Galatians afresh: a Gnostic Paul, James, Peter and John?”
I am copying a comment by Earl Doherty here as a post in its own right. Doherty apparently attempted to post it on McGrath’s blog in response to McGrath’s post, James the Brother of the Lord and Mythicism, but was confronted with word-length issues. James was responding to Earl’s Menu Entree #3 in his Antidotes … Continue reading ““Brother of the Lord” – Doherty versus McGrath”
Earl Doherty has visited James McGrath’s Matrix Restaurant and sampled for himself all 23 items offered on his Menu of Answers for Mythicists. Here is the first part of Earl’s complete culinary report on his experience along with tips for other prospective diners. Herewith a response to Jim McGrath’s blog feature A Menu of Answers … Continue reading “Earl Doherty’s Antidotes for a James McGrath Menu.”
I have copied here a translation from an 1886 publication of … … two researchers from different fields of knowledge …. A. Pierson is the theologian …, whose work has made him known as an astute and fearless critic …. S. A. Naber, on the other hand, is a philologist and thus offers a guarantee … Continue reading “What Others have Written About Galatians – Pierson and Naber”
The fact that a century of such patient and devoted scholarship has yielded so few agreements on difficult passages and fundamental issues makes me think that the nineteenth-century debate is not yet over. (O’Neill, 8f) John Cochrane O’Neill had a reputation for being a controversial critic but his attempt to sift through the many variant … Continue reading “What Others have Written About Galatians – J. C. O’Neill”
The previous post presented a historical Dutch language criticism of Galatians and here I offer a sceptical analysis from France. I have selected from Henri Turmel’s discussion those paragraphs that address Galatians 1-2, — as per my earlier explanation. In my coming post on J.C. O’Neill’s detailed discussion, both Bergh van Eysinga and Turmel are … Continue reading “What Others have Written About Galatians – Joseph Turmel”
60 4 The Apostles’ Convention A local dispute in Antioch, which was accidentally caused by some arrivals from Judea by their assertion of the necessity of circumcision for salvation, causes a decision that settles the whole dispute about the necessity of the law, secures the freedom of the Gentile Christians and establishes the peace of … Continue reading “4. The Apostles’ Convention”
Criticism of the Pauline Epistles by B. Bauer First Section The Origin of the Galatians Epistle 1850 3 Preface We will put an end once and for all to the mistakes and unsuccessful attempts of the apologists, who started from the assumption that it is both possible and necessary to integrate the Pauline letters with … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Criticism of the Pauline Letters – I. Origin of the Galatians Epistle”
This post picks up from Measuring the Temple where we set out various interpretations of the first two verses of Revelation 11 (where John is commanded to measure the temple) as they are discussed by Bielefeld University‘s Professor Thomas Witulski in Apk 11 und der Bar Kokhba-Aufstand. Here we do the same for the two witnesses … Continue reading “The Two Witnesses in Revelation 11: the theories”
At about 57 mins of the MythVision podcast O’Neill underscores the importance of Paul’s claim to have met James the “brother of the Lord”. Not only is Paul’s claim from a contemporary of Jesus but it is even from one who is opposed to his source: Paul is saying, says O’Neill, “Yeh, I have met … Continue reading “Bad History for Atheists (3) — Proof-texting, Circularity, Fake Facts, Insults”
I am catching up on too my long-neglected RSS feeds and came across this post from James McGrath: Jesus, James and Peter Mythicism. It is worth noting precisely what it is that mythicists do with Paul’s references to Jesus in his letters, and just how easily the same could be done with James, the brother … Continue reading “Trumpian Style Response to Mythicism”