In a recent post, I mentioned a new publication, The First Paul, by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. I said it contained some interesting bits, but also some bits that one might suspect are arguably on the dubious side of method and logic. I discussed a positive for my first post, now for a … Continue reading ““Christ crucified” — Was Paul’s message really anti-imperialist as Borg and Crossan assert?”
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Michelle Goldberg’s description of Christian nationalism in her book Kingdom Coming has been an eye-opener for this non-American on a number of levels. Till having read this book I had heard or read the odd strange comment from a US citizen that implied they believed the framers of the US constitution were divinely inspired, or … Continue reading “the creation of past golden ages, or beware what you dream . . .”
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(continuation of the series) ii. Lydia, Lydia and Lydians The first convert of Paul is a woman who has gained much wealth from selling “purple”. Purple is, of course, a colour that was indicative of rulership and worn by a select few, mostly Romans of authority. The name Lydia was well-known to Romans as … Continue reading “The We-Passages in Acts: a Roman audience interpretation. Pt 10”
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The Cyrus Cylinder is not evidence that the Persian king Cyrus commissioned a return of Judeans to restore their temple (as explained in the previous post) but it does show us why the biblical authors proclaimed Cyrus to be the “anointed one” as their central character in their mythical narrative of that return. In the … Continue reading “Origin of the Cyrus-Messiah Myth”
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In my book collection I have a massive (both in size and weight) Reader’s Digest 1971 version of the King James 1611 translation of the Bible. On page 377, the second page into the Book of Ezra, is this image and caption: The page has other images and captions: King Cyrus of Persia proved to … Continue reading “No Evidence Cyrus allowed the Jews to Return”
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Recent posts have focussed on the case for the earliest books of the Bible being composed as late as the Hellenistic era, that is less than 300 years before Christ. The longstanding conventional wisdom has understood the first biblical narratives go back to the time of King David (around 1000 BCE) or at least to … Continue reading “Comparing Samaria and Judah/Yehud – and their religion – in Persian Times”
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I am continuing here with my responses to criticisms raised on the earlywritings forum against the proposal that the first biblical texts were composed as late as around 270 years before Christ. (I had looked forward to continuing the discussion on that forum until I lost confidence in the sub-forum’s promise to be an “academic … Continue reading “Questioning the Hellenistic Date for the Hebrew Bible: Elephantine ‘Jews’”
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By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion. Thus opens Psalm 137. Does it reflect a realistic situation of captives who had been deported from the kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar in the seventh century BCE? The conventional narrative for the beginnings of modern Judaism is that … Continue reading “Were Jews in Babylonian Exile Pining for Home in “Israel-Judah” and a Reformed Religion?”
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Continuing…. (3) The Passage’s Reference to God’s Punishment of Herod Peter Kirby asserts that contradictory viewpoints in Josephus are no reason to suspect the involvement of an alien hand somewhere in the transmission of our manuscripts. He quotes my (somewhat facile) paraphrase of Zindler’s point: Neil Godfrey notes another one of the reasons that Zindler … Continue reading “Where does John the Baptist fit in History? — The Evidence of Josephus, Pt 4”
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I was not ready for essays compiled by David Newheiser in Varieties of Atheism when I undertook to read them. My initial response to some of the quasi-theological views seeking alignment with certain atheistic thought was impatience. I could see no relevance to the direction I had set for my life. By the time I … Continue reading “Varieties of Atheism # 7 — The Drama of Atheism”
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Critique of the Gospel of John by Bruno Bauer —o0o— 336 § 15. The second Sabbath violation. 9:1 – 10:21. ——– 1) The situation. 9:1-2. Nowhere has the fourth evangelist produced a greater impression of the vividness of his narrative on the apologists than in the account of the healing of a man born blind … Continue reading “§ 15. The second Sabbath violation”
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Critique of the Gospel of John by Bruno Bauer —o0o— 265 § 12. Echo of the dispute about the first Sabbath violation. Ch 7. ————— 1) The time of the Lord. 7:1-9. The last time Jesus withdrew from Judea to Galilee, the evangelist, contrary to his custom, omitted to state the reason for this withdrawal. … Continue reading “§ 12. Echo of the dispute about the first Sabbath violation”
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90 6. Paul the Apologist If Paul, as portrayed in the Acts of the Apostles, had to share the fame of miraculous power with Peter, and even had the honor of being worthy of direct revelations from heaven and wonderful visions, which he could only make use of after it was legitimized by the same … Continue reading “6. Paul the Apologist”
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Critique of the Gospel of John by Bruno Bauer —o0o— 153 §8. Jesus as a prophet in a foreign land. 4:43-54 ———- 1) The motive of the journey abroad. 4:43-45 It was already mentioned in 4:1-3 that Jesus left Judea because of the hostile attention of the Pharisees and went to Galilee: but … Continue reading “§ 8. Jesus as a prophet in a foreign land”
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