Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
Critique of the Gospel History of the Synoptics by Bruno Bauer Volume 1 —o0o— 213 § 14. The Temptation of Jesus. 1. The biblical account. Then, according to Matthew (Ch. 4:1), Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. “Then” (τοτε): the evangelist sees the matter in … Continue reading “§ 14. The Temptation of Jesus”
Criticism of the Pauline Epistles by B. Bauer Second Section The Origin of the First Corinthians Letter 1851 3 The Introduction. 1: 1-9. If it were really Paul who wrote to his Corinthians, he would not have addressed the church, which he could consider as his own work, with a phrase that points to a … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Criticism of the Pauline Letters – II. Origin of the First Corinthians Letter”
318 VII. The Time of Marcus Aurelius. We come to a conclusion and say farewell to the Caesars who ruled the world alongside the gradual rise of Christianity. They all contributed to the formation of the new faith and, in their individuality, depicted with expressive force a feature of the image in which the dissatisfied … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Christ and the Caesars – VII. The Time of Marcus Aurelius”
183 IV. The House of Flavia and Judaism. I. The Invasion of the West by the East. Rome was not able to enjoy its power, at its peak, with a joyful heart. In the rising and setting of the sun, there were images of terror and danger that it did not feel capable of facing … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Christ and the Caesars – IV. The House of Flavia and Judaism”
126 III. Nero’s and Seneca’s downfall. 1. The Cosmopolitan on the Throne. Nero was no longer a Roman national patriot in that exclusive sense in which the ancient Roman, in pride of his blood, claimed the privilege of superiority over the peoples of the earth. Virgil had expressed this sense of nationalism once more in … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Christ and the Caesars – III. Nero’s and Seneca’s Downfall”
108 1. Der Einzug in Jerusalem 1. The Entry into Jerusalem 108 Woher weiß es Jesus, als er zu seinem feierlichen Einzugs in Jerusalem Anstalten trifft, daß dieselben nicht unnütz seyn werden? Sein feierlicher Einzug in Jerusalem ist von ihm von vornherein beabsichtigt — seine Absicht ist so ernstlich, er selbst seiner Sache so gewiß, … Continue reading “Ch 1 — The Entry into Jerusalem”
Continuing the series discussing Russell Gmirkin’s Plato’s Timaeus and the Biblical Creation Accounts . . . . The expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden in Eden (note, not expelled from the land of Eden but only from Eden’s Garden) generally coincides with the Greek mythological Age of Zeus that succeeded the idyllic golden … Continue reading “Primeval History from Cain to Noah — [Biblical Creation Accounts/Plato’s Timaeus-Critias – 7b]”
This post continues the series discussing Russell Gmirkin’s Plato’s Timaeus and the Biblical Creation Accounts. After the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden we enter a new series of adventures that find their counterpart in the next book by Plato, Critias. Here we are led to understand that the land of Eden was … Continue reading “The Garden of Eden — [Biblical Creation Accounts/Plato’s Timaeus-Critias – 7a]”
(continuing the series on Russell Gmirkin’s Plato’s Timaeus and the Biblical Creation Accounts) …. If the authors of Genesis were inspired by Plato’s discourse on the origins of the cosmos in Timaeus how can one explain the obvious contrast between Plato’s lengthy scientific and philosophical reasoning and the simple narrative in Genesis 1:1-2:3? To answer … Continue reading “Why Genesis 1-3 is Different from Other Myths — [Biblical Creation Accounts/Plato’s Timaeus – 3b]”
This post begins to set out the main points of Thomas Witulski’s discussion of the situation facing the Christians in Pergamon as described in Revelation 2:12-17. This account, following his discussion of the two beasts in Revelation 13, is part of the larger argument to place Revelation in the time of Hadrian. The numbers in … Continue reading “The Doctrine of Balaam and the Nicolaitans”
Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. Thomas Witulski identifies this other beast that arises from the earth with the sophist Antonius Polemon. We introduced him in the post on emperor worship and Revelation. We … Continue reading “Revelation’s Second Beast, the False Prophet”
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”
There can be little doubt that many of the gospel stories are derived from the Jewish Scriptures: Jesus in the wilderness reworks the nation Israel’s and the prophet Elijah’s sojourn there; Jesus feeding the multitudes and raising the dead are surely inspired by comparable miracles by Elijah and Elisha and many more. What I find … Continue reading “Rewritings and Composite Contradictions: the Way of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation”
Earlier posts in this series: Gods (An Anthropology of Religion Perspective) (2020-07-12) Gods – 2 (An Anthropology of Religion Perspective) (2020-07-13) Gods – 3 (An Anthropology of Religion Perspective — Why People Believe in Gods) (2020-07-14) Gods – 4 (An Anthropology of Religion Perspective — Why People Believe in Gods) (2020-07-17) Where Does Morality Come … Continue reading “Gods – 5 (An Anthropology of Religion Perspective — Why People Believe in Gods)”