Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
For all posts in this series: Roger Parvus: A Simonian Origin for Christianity It has been more than a year since I wrote the previous installment in this series. I have some excuses: new location, new job, and separation from well-stocked libraries. And also, I must admit, something unexpected happened during the break: I started losing … Continue reading “A Simonian Origin for Christianity, Part 16: Mark as Allegory”
In this series I have been examining passages in the Pauline letters from a particular angle. Marcion claimed that the man who wrote the originals was someone who did not believe the god of the Old Testament to be the supreme God. And the letters, said Marcion, had been interpolated by someone who aimed to … Continue reading “A Simonian Origin for Christianity, Part 12: A Different Perspective on the Corinthian Controversy (conclusion)”
When I finished the previous post of the series, I expected to go on to a discussion of the eschatology in chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians. But while working on that, I quickly realized that chapters 1 through 4 of the letter should be examined first. They provide some necessary background on the situation in … Continue reading “A Simonian Origin for Christianity, Part 10: A Different Perspective on the Corinthian Controversy”
. This post continues from The Author of the So-Called Ignatians was an Apellean Christian Links to all posts in this series are collated at: Roger Parvus: Letters Supposedly Written by Ignatius . When I presented my first contention — that the real author of the Ignatians was Peregrinus — I argued that a … Continue reading “The Ignatian Letters Written By A Follower Of Apelles? (Part 1)”
. This post continues from An Unusual Mix of Beliefs in the Letters of Ignatius Peregrinus All posts so far in this series: Roger Parvus: Letters Supposedly Written by Ignatius . In my previous post I called attention to the assortment of unusual beliefs held by the author of the so-called Ignatian letters. That … Continue reading “The Teachings of Apelles, Marcion’s Apostate”
. This post continues from Writing Ignatius into History (How the Peregrinus thesis solves many problems) TDOP = The Death of Peregrinus by Lucian. Harmon’s translation here. All posts so far in this series: Roger Parvus: Letters Supposedly Written by Ignatius . II. THE AUTHOR OF THE LETTERS WAS AN APELLEAN CHRISTIAN In my … Continue reading “An Unusual Mix of Beliefs in the Letters of Ignatius Peregrinus”
AN ATTEMPT TO VIEW MARK’S PARABLES FROM THE INSIDE Samuel Sandmel, in his The Genius of Paul, made this observation: The parable of the sower in Mark (and in Matthew and Luke) is so presented in the Gospels as to have us believe that, clear as it was, the disciples did not understand it and … Continue reading “Mark’s Parables as Simonian Allegories”
Continuing from Part 6 . . . . The preceding posts have outlined Matthew Novenson’s argument that Paul’s concept of Christ (as expressed throughout his epistles) was entirely consistent with “the formal conventions of ancient Jewish Messiah language” that we would expect in any messianic literature of his era. There are a few passages, however, … Continue reading “Christ among the Messiahs — Part 7”
Dr McGrath’s “reviews” (sic) of Earl Doherty’s book are what you get when a reviewer has made up his mind beforehand that he is going to read nothing but nonsense — except for any tidbits that happen to be repeats of mainstream scholarly views anyway — written by an ignorant charlatan whom he (the reviewer) … Continue reading “Concluding my response to Dr McGrath’s “review” (sic) of chapter 10 part 2″
I’ll try to complete Paul-Louis Couchoud’s explanations for the second-century productions of the canonical New Testament literature starting here with his discussion of Acts. For those who enjoy the stimulation of new (even if old) ideas to spark fresh thoughts, read on. I left off my earlier series on Couchoud’s thoughts on Gospel origins with … Continue reading “Couchoud on Acts of the Apostles”
Edited last paragraph re Mark and Basilides ca 6 hours after original. As to why a gospel was written about a “mythical” Jesus, here is a take by Paul Louis Couchoud from the 1920s and published in English in 1939 as The Creation of Christ. (For other thoughts on this theme see discussion comments here.) … Continue reading “Another explanation of Gospel origins from a Christ Myth perspective”
8th post in the series by Roger Parvus. The complete series is archived here. When I presented my first contention—that the real author of the Ignatians was Peregrinus—I argued that a proto-Catholic editor/interpolator later, probably around 200 CE, made changes to the letters to disguise Peregrinus’ authorship. To make the letters acceptable for use by … Continue reading “[8] THE LETTERS SUPPOSEDLY WRITTEN BY IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH: 8th post in the series”
7th post in the series by Roger Parvus. The complete series is archived here. In my previous post I called attention to the assortment of unusual beliefs held by the author of the so-called Ignatian letters. That assortment and the description of his Judaizing and docetic opponents have convinced me that he was a follower … Continue reading “[7] THE LETTERS SUPPOSEDLY WRITTEN BY IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH: 7th post in the series”
6th post in the series by Roger Parvus. The complete series is archived here. TDOP = The Death of Peregrinus by Lucian. Harmon’s translation here. II. THE AUTHOR OF THE LETTERS WAS AN APELLEAN CHRISTIAN In my previous posts I have presented my case for identifying Peregrinus as the real author of the so-called Ignatian … Continue reading “[6] THE LETTERS SUPPOSEDLY WRITTEN BY IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH: 6th post in the series”