Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
Critique of the Gospel History of the Synoptics by Bruno Bauer Volume 2 —o0o— 114 § 37. The Fasting of the Disciples of John. Matthew 9:14-17. And then, Matthew continues, as Jesus was dining with that tax collector, the disciples of John came to him and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, … Continue reading “§ 37. The Fasting of the Disciples of John”
Critique of the Gospel History of the Synoptics by Bruno Bauer Volume 1 —o0o— 23 § 2. The Birth of John the Baptist. In its original state, when transitioning to its more specific representation, Christian consciousness was far from the rigid dogmatic formulation that saw the promise of the prophets about the Son of David … Continue reading “§ 2. The Birth of John the Baptist.”
All posts reviewing Nathanael Vette’s Writing With Scripture are archived at Vette : Writing With Scripture With thanks to T&T Clark who forwarded me a review copy. Having “settled” again (this time Thailand) I can resume my discussion of Nathanael Vette’s [NV] Writing With Scripture. We come now to the Passion Narrative in the Gospel … Continue reading “How (and Why) Jewish Scriptures are used in Mark’s Passion Narrative — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 9”
All posts reviewing Nathanael Vette’s Writing With Scripture are archived at Vette : Writing With Scripture With thanks to T&T Clark who forwarded me a review copy. I was fascinated by Nathanael Vette’s (NV) discussion of the highly probable influence of the story of Esther on the Gospel of Mark‘s account of the death of … Continue reading “How Queen Esther Influenced the Fate of John the Baptist — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 7”
Previous posts reviewing NV’s Writing With Scripture: How and Why the Gospel of Mark Used Scripture — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 1 Creating New Stories from Scripture — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 2 To What Shall We Compare the Gospels? — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 3 … Continue reading “Creating the Gospel of Mark — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 5”
When I offered to post a comprehensive review of Writing With Scripture by Nathanael Vette the publisher sent me a copy and now I hope this first in a series of reviews will begin to do justice to all concerned and interested. I write primarily as a layman for interested lay readers. Who is Nathanael … Continue reading “How and Why the Gospel of Mark Used Scripture — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 1”
Before Thomas Witulski informs readers of the details of events in the time of the Roman emperor Hadrian and how they enable a contemporary interpretation of Revelation 13 he analyses the meanings of different parts of the chapter itself. I cannot possibly cover every detail of his exegesis (especially the grammar and usage of certain … Continue reading “The Two Beasts of Revelation 13; and the Image, Mark and Number of the First Beast”
Reviewing The First Biography of Jesus: Genre and Meaning in Mark’s Gospel by Helen K. Bond. (In which I finally get around to reading Bond’s The First Biography of Jesus.) After the initial trickle of “Gospels Are Biographies!” books, we might have expected a flood of works exploring the implications of such a designation. After all, when … Continue reading “Mark: The First Biography of Jesus? (Part 1)”
Here is the final post discussing the introductory chapter of Rivka Nir’s The First Christian Believer: In Search of John the Baptist where she sets out her case for the John the Baptist passage in the writings of Josephus being a forgery. For readers with so little time, the TL;DR version: The baptism of John that … Continue reading “John the Baptist — Another Case for Forgery in Josephus (conclusion)”
I conclude* continue here my posts presenting Rivka Nir’s case for the John the Baptist passage in the Antiquities of Josephus being a Christian interpolation. All of these posts are archived at Nir: First Christian Believer. (* I had expected to conclude the series with this post but as usual, checking sources and being sure … Continue reading “John the Baptist in Josephus — What was his baptism?”
Continuing Rivka Nir’s case for questioning the authenticity of John the Baptist in Josephus’s Antiquities…. (First post is here.) Nir informs us in The First Christian Believer, By the nineteenth and early twentieth century, historians were suggesting that this passage was a Christian interpolation. (p. 42) As a general rule, I like to follow up … Continue reading “Early Thoughts on Authenticity of the John the Baptist Passage in Josephus”
Of making many posts about John the Baptist there is no end, and much discussion may weary, or stimulate, the flesh. Here’s another one. This post is the first in a series of perhaps three that intends to raise awareness of Rivka Nir‘s case for the passage about John the Baptist in Josephus being a … Continue reading “John the Baptist: Another Case for Forgery in Josephus”
Before returning to the Johannine stories containing the words and deeds of Nicodemus, I must digress briefly to discuss the issue of dependence. The Gospel of John contains countless mysteries, many of which can keep a scholar busy for a lifetime. Who actually wrote the gospel? What were his sources? Who is the Beloved Disciple? … Continue reading “What Is the Purpose of the Nicodemus Stories in John? (Part 2)”
Longtime Vridar readers may recall a post from 2013 in which I discussed an argument put forth by William Wrede regarding the priority of Mark’s gospel. Wrede noted that when Matthew took over Markan accounts, he sometimes condensed or rewrote his source, which led to oddities in the finished product. It turns out Volkmar and … Continue reading “What Is the Purpose of the Nicodemus Stories in John? (Part 1)”