Search for "aesop"

Once more on Jesus’ humble origins and that presumed criterion of embarrassment

Concerning Aesop’s lowly origin: While Aesop is defined βιωφελέστατος in the incipit of the Vita, meaning ‘very useful for life’, ‘great benefactor of mankind’, he is, in effect, an ugly and misshapenslave of Phrygian origin who, throughout most of the biography, is at the service of his master, Xanthus. In his case too, it is … Continue reading “Once more on Jesus’ humble origins and that presumed criterion of embarrassment”

Review, pt 1a: How the Gospels Became History / Litwa

We declared a while ago on Vridar that we would never sell anything so I am at this moment trapped between gratitude and principle. Yale University Press kindly agreed to send me a review copy of M. David Litwa’s How the Gospels Became History: Jesus and Mediterranean Myths but, as it turned out, they requested their … Continue reading “Review, pt 1a: How the Gospels Became History / Litwa”

Jésus-Christ, Sublime Figure de Papier. Chap 3d … Metaphors of Exodus and Lion Dens Become History

Continuing from Chap 3c . . . . The Exodus: Metaphor Preceded “History” Other examples of changing names and wordplay: The narrative can even culminate in the bestowing of a new name, or make the point that the change of name is itself the central point, along with all that it signifies: Isaiah 62:1-4 for … Continue reading “Jésus-Christ, Sublime Figure de Papier. Chap 3d … Metaphors of Exodus and Lion Dens Become History”

And once more . . . .

With the previous post in mind . . . . Aesop told him a fable: “A woman who had buried her husband was sitting at his tomb, weeping and overcome with grief. A plowman saw her and began to desire her, so he left his oxen standing with the plow and came over to her, … Continue reading “And once more . . . .”

Ancient Historiography and Historians — Vridar Posts

For the background to this post see Vridar Maintenance. I am listing here the posts that are categorized or tagged as “Ancient Historiography“. This list is for my own editing purposes but I am making it public because I know it’s a topic that if of particular interest to some readers, so they can share … Continue reading “Ancient Historiography and Historians — Vridar Posts”

Trumpism: No, it’s not the economy that’s to blame

I posted on Facebook a link to an article that challenged my own “liberal” spirit of wanting to believe that racists and other bigots were fundamentally fearful and that a sure cure was to be found in strategically administered education and information. I had long believed that one reason people were sometimes fearful was that … Continue reading “Trumpism: No, it’s not the economy that’s to blame”

Further Daniel Gullotta Disrepresentation of Carrier’s On the Historicity of Jesus

For an annotated list of previous posts in this series see the archived page: Daniel Gullotta’s Review of Richard Carrier’s On the Historicity of Jesus Daniel Gullotta criticizes Richard Carrier’s purported argument that the first canonical gospel (the Gospel of Mark) constructs its Jesus primarily as a counterpoint to the Greek hero Odysseus, declaring that … Continue reading “Further Daniel Gullotta Disrepresentation of Carrier’s On the Historicity of Jesus“

Reading the Classics and the Gospels Differently

Recently we talked about the Life of Aesop, a biographical novella of the fabulist written around the same time as the gospels: Aesop, Guide to a Very Late Date for the Gospels?; Aesop / 2, a Guide to a Late Gospel of Mark Date; Did Aesop Exist? This post singles out one more point in Tomas Hãgg’s … Continue reading “Reading the Classics and the Gospels Differently”

Evolution of the Gospels as Biographies, 2

The previous post on this topic ended with the following: The first genuinely biographical detail of Jesus arrives when Jesus is twelve years old facing the wise men in the Temple. We learn about the parents’ very natural and everyday concerns and the “adolescent arrogance” of Jesus, his separation from this world, his first signs … Continue reading “Evolution of the Gospels as Biographies, 2”

Did the ancient philosopher Demonax exist?

If the Life of Aesop is riddled with obvious fiction yet it is concluded that Aesop really existed, what does Tomas Hägg (The Art of Biography in Antiquity) do with the question of the historicity of Demonax, a figure whose biography contains only sober and believable accounts and is said to have been written by … Continue reading “Did the ancient philosopher Demonax exist?”

“True stories that didn’t happen” — OMG!, do stop the silly word games

Bart Ehrman has been blogging about the quaint way too many biblical scholars (himself included) play games with the meaning of “myth” in relation to the gospel narratives. The message strikes me as being something like saying Aesop’s fables are true stories because they contain useful lessons. Why can’t they just say, yes, Aesop’s fables … Continue reading ““True stories that didn’t happen” — OMG!, do stop the silly word games”

What Does a “Life of Jesus” Look Like?

I have in the past argued that our canonical gospels are not really about the life and person of Jesus but rather they are a dramatization of core theological beliefs of the early Church. Jesus is a personification, a mouthpiece and a role constructed to play out this dramatization. One could say I have sided with Adela Yarbro … Continue reading “What Does a “Life of Jesus” Look Like?”

Jesus and “The Egyptian”: What to make of the Mount of Olives parallel?

Once more exploring a question raised by Lena Einhorn in A Shift in Time — this time with doubts…. Was Jesus originally the Egyptian prophet we read about in the works of the ancient Jewish historian Josephus? Lena Einhorn seems to think so in A Shift in Time where she lists seven points in common between them. I … Continue reading “Jesus and “The Egyptian”: What to make of the Mount of Olives parallel?”

Why the Anonymous Gospels? Failure of Scholarship in Pitre’s The Case for Jesus

It is an abuse of one’s status as a public intellectual to write dogmatic apologetics for lay readers. Professor Brant Pitre cobbles together a grab-bag of rationalisations to promote Catholic dogma and presents it to his lay readers as a work based on superior scholarship. The title of this post might have as well have begun … Continue reading “Why the Anonymous Gospels? Failure of Scholarship in Pitre’s The Case for Jesus“

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https://earlywritings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=145080#p145080
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. . . . .Thank you for your historic effort.

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Editor, An English Edition of Bruno Bauer’s 1843 Christianity Exposed
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Austendw on Samaria in the Persian Period: “What is also interesting is the way that the lampstand in the tabernacle (Ex 25:31-36), with its branches and almond…” Apr 17, 17:30
Neil Godfrey on Questioning the Hellenistic Date for the Hebrew Bible — continuing: “I cited it for the reason I stated. Now you happen to raise an old canard. When you find an…” Apr 16, 21:02
Roger Crew on Questioning the Hellenistic Date for the Hebrew Bible — continuing: “so,… I read the Armgardt paper (I was curious about what it was that actually went wrong in the study…” Apr 16, 08:51
Neil Godfrey on Samaria in the Persian Period: “Well I sure overlooked that one, didn’t I! Thank you for adding this to the post.” Apr 15, 21:48
Neil Godfrey on Judah and Samaria in Persian Times — the Evidence (and a way out of a quandary): “My reading of Reed in Demons, Angels and Writing in Ancient Judaism and her many references (in particular Collins and…” Apr 15, 21:43
Russell Gmirkin on Samaria in the Persian Period: “What I find fascinating is the likely depiction of an asherah on a fourth century BCE coin from Samaria, as…” Apr 15, 12:03
Paul Trejo on Judah and Samaria in Persian Times — the Evidence (and a way out of a quandary): “Kudos, Neil, for your continuing research into a long-neglected field. What your sources have admitted — however small and speculative…” Apr 14, 21:41
James Faubel on No Evidence Jerusalem/Judea had a “Writing Culture” in Persian times — Israel Finkelstein: “It’s true that “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” but it is also true that “absence of evidence…” Apr 14, 17:58
Neil Godfrey on Questioning the Hellenistic Date for the Hebrew Bible: Elephantine ‘Jews’: “In short, “Judaism” as we understand it was an “exclusivist” type of religion that identified itself as in major ways…” Apr 13, 23:09

Search Results for: aesop

Once more on Jesus’ humble origins and that presumed criterion of embarrassment

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Review, pt 1a: How the Gospels Became History / Litwa

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Jésus-Christ, Sublime Figure de Papier. Chap 3d … Metaphors of Exodus and Lion Dens Become History

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And once more . . . .

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Ancient Historiography and Historians — Vridar Posts

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Trumpism: No, it’s not the economy that’s to blame

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Further Daniel Gullotta Disrepresentation of Carrier’s On the Historicity of Jesus

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Reading the Classics and the Gospels Differently

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Evolution of the Gospels as Biographies, 2

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Did the ancient philosopher Demonax exist?

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“True stories that didn’t happen” — OMG!, do stop the silly word games

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What Does a “Life of Jesus” Look Like?

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Jesus and “The Egyptian”: What to make of the Mount of Olives parallel?

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Why the Anonymous Gospels? Failure of Scholarship in Pitre’s The Case for Jesus

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