Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
We now arrive at Nanine Charbonnel’s discussion of the source of the Passion narrative in the gospels. Her approach is in three parts: the failure of traditional approaches to bring us to a satisfactory answer and a recognition that the expectation of a suffering messiah who liberates his people was very much a part of … Continue reading “Understanding the Sacrifice of Jesus (Charbonnel contd)”
Nanine Charbonnel’s next chapter addresses the Jewish origin of the Passion of Jesus, or the climax of the gospel narrative: “sacrifice and the glory of the cross”. Here much material I have covered in other posts is discussed so this will be a quicker write up for me than the previous three posts. The coming … Continue reading “Climactic Advent of the Messiah (Charbonnel contd)”
All posts in this survey of Nanine Charbonnel’s book are archived at Charbonnel: Jesus Christ sublime figure de papier. Getting Real The striking difference between pre-Christian Jewish concepts and those of Christianity is that the latter eschewed abstract notions of messiahs and divine messengers and fleshed them out with names and personalities. Where we read … Continue reading “The Incarnation of The Name – Continuing Nanine Charbonnel’s Sublime Paper Figure Jesus Christ”
Continuing the series Charbonnel: Jesus Christ sublime figure de papier . . . A Messiah to combine the different messianic visions Nanine Charbonnel [NC] has been exploring various ways the Jesus figure of the gospels was drawn to embody certain groups of people and now proceeds to discuss the way our evangelists (gospel authors) also found … Continue reading “Jesus embodies all the Jewish Messiahs — continuing Jésus-Christ, Sublime Figure de Papier”
Continuing the series on Nanine Charbonnel’s Jésus-Christ, sublime figure de paper . . . . –o– After this post I will pause from addressing NC’s book for a little while because I want to get a firm grasp of the next section before posting, and I think it is a very critical section, one that addresses the formation … Continue reading “Symbolic Characters #3: Mary, Personification of the Jewish People, “Re-Virgined””
We discuss here the second of three parts of the chapter about “scriptural fulfillments” in Nanine Charbonnel’s Jésus-Christ, Sublime Figure de Papier . . . . . . The Jewish Scriptures spoke of times that were supposed to be fulfilled in coming days and in the text of the New Testament we read of those … Continue reading “How the Gospels Became History”
Continuing my reading of part 2 of Nanine Charbonnel’s Jésus-Christ, Sublime Figure de Papier . . . . . . . o . . . At the heart of Nanine Charbonnel’s thesis lies the question of how much we read in the gospels was written in a figurative sense and how much literal. Arthur Schopenhauer … Continue reading “A Midrashic Hypothesis for the Gospels”
A little detail in the previous post has kept me awake at night (maybe as long as a minute), wondering. It is Matthew 28:18-19 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations . . . Why hadn’t … Continue reading “Jesus Came (End of Story?)”
M. David Litwa declared at the outset of his book How the Gospels Became History Whether or not the evangelists did report actual events is a separate question and is not my concern. (p.3) So I remain mystified by his decision to make his first chapter entirely about the “Jesus Myth Theory”. It adds nothing … Continue reading “Review, part 2 (Damnation upon that Christ Myth Theory!) : How the Gospels Became History / Litwa”
#. From Adapa to Jesus (2019-02-07) This post is not part of the main series but a standalone on but one detail, addressing one mythical trope and its apparent recycling and refashioning through changing circumstances and experiences: the myth of Adapa and the South Wind is discussed against the story of Jesus stilling the … Continue reading “From Adapa to Enoch (Sanders)“
The title is “a” history because it is an interpretation built on detailed argument that is presented for consideration by Seth Sanders in From Adapa to Enoch, a book sent to me for blog discussion by the publisher Mohr Siebeck. I’m drawing to a close my reading this book and now come to chapter 6 … Continue reading “Becoming Like God: A 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”
Continuing from New French Mythicist Book . . . We see how the author, a philosopher, begins her journey with the philosophical tradition’s relationship with the Bible. Recall that Nanine Charbonnel is a philosopher of hermeneutics. Her opening chapter offers us her distinctive contribution to the question implied by the title of the book. It … Continue reading “Jésus-Christ, Sublime Figure de Papier. Chap 1. Hermeneutical Impasse”
Last month I posted an eight part series based on Joachim Jeremias’s 1957 book The Servant of God arguing for a pre-Christian notion among Second Temple Jews of a messiah who was expected to suffer and/or die. This view is not the prevailing one among New Testament scholars today so I want to set out some of … Continue reading “A Suffering Messiah Before Christianity? — the other side of the question”