Search Results for: baptism jesus historic

“How did traditions of the sayings of Jesus and the events of his history reach the writers of the Gospels?”

How did traditions of the sayings of Jesus and the events of his history reach the writers of the Gospels? That is the opening question of Richard Bauckham’s chapter, “Gospel Traditions: Anonymous Community Traditions or Eyewitness Testimony?”, in Jesus Research: New Methodologies and Perceptions — The Second Princeton-Prague Symposium on Jesus Research, Princeton 2007. His … Continue reading ““How did traditions of the sayings of Jesus and the events of his history reach the writers of the Gospels?””

An Embarrassing Fallacy in Many Historical Jesus Studies

Recently I was discussing some of the criteria of authenticity that have been used by historical Jesus scholars to supposedly sift the more likely historical events in the gospels from those that are pious fabrications. I was using David Hackett Fischer’s Historians’ Fallacies as my yardstick. One criterion I did not get to then was … Continue reading “An Embarrassing Fallacy in Many Historical Jesus Studies”

6 More Reasons to Question Josephus’ “James the brother of Jesus” passage

Josephus does, in Jewish Antiquities, have two passages on the emergence of Christianity and the persecution of its followers, involving Jewish jurisdiction, but both are suspected of being interpolations. (Efron 1987, p. 333) Warning: this post addresses a small section of a work by Jewish scholar, Joshua Efron, Studies on the Hasmonean Period, that was … Continue reading “6 More Reasons to Question Josephus’ “James the brother of Jesus” passage”

Theologians Myth-Busting the Jesus Story

A Jesuit priest has used the “infant Jesus went down to Egypt” myth to argue a moral criticism of a policy relating to immigrants or children of immigrants into the U.S. Baby Jesus was a Dreamer in Egypt I have no problem with that. That’s what myths are for and how they have always functioned … Continue reading “Theologians Myth-Busting the Jesus Story”

Why did Luke trace Jesus’ genealogy through David’s son Nathan and not Solomon?

I’ve set out the genealogies at the end of this post but I think anyone interested in reading this post will already be aware of the differences between the family trees of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Matthew’s genealogy looks “right” since it leads to Jesus through David and his son Solomon. But … Continue reading “Why did Luke trace Jesus’ genealogy through David’s son Nathan and not Solomon?”

A Case for the “Easter” Appearances of Jesus BEFORE the Crucifixion

There is an inconsistency in a fundamental argument, or assumption, rather, among critical scholars of Christian origins that has long been bugging me. The principle was set down by David Friedrich Strauss in the nineteenth century, when we find details in the life of Jesus evidently sketched after the pattern of these prophecies and prototypes, we cannot but … Continue reading “A Case for the “Easter” Appearances of Jesus BEFORE the Crucifixion”

Bart Ehrman: Jesus Before the Gospels, Basic Element 3: Oral Tradition

In the previous post, we looked at the basic element of form criticism. Bart Ehrman in Jesus Before the Gospels uses the findings of the form critics to explain a commonly held assumption in NT scholarship. Many, if not most, of today’s critical scholars believe the stories found in our canonical gospels survived orally over a … Continue reading “Bart Ehrman: Jesus Before the Gospels, Basic Element 3: Oral Tradition”

Bart Ehrman: Jesus Before the Gospels, Basic Element 2: Form Criticism

In my previous post, I discussed the basic element of Bart Ehrman’s understanding of Maurice Halbwachs, the founder of the study of collective memory. This time, I’d like to focus on his remarks concerning Formgeschichte (form criticism) as it applies to the New Testament in general and memory theory in particular. Basic Element 2: Form Criticism [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8lT1o0sDwI] … Continue reading “Bart Ehrman: Jesus Before the Gospels, Basic Element 2: Form Criticism”

Scrutinizing the Case for Q: Why Luke Sidestepped the Baptism of Jesus by John

Michael Kok is addressing the arguments for and against Q on his blog where he explores the “history and reception of New Testament writings”. In his latest post he raises the question of whether Luke knew Matthew’s account of the baptism of Jesus. Unfortunately his comment policy does not encourage responses from outsiders hence this … Continue reading “Scrutinizing the Case for Q: Why Luke Sidestepped the Baptism of Jesus by John”

Another Biblical Scholar Explains His Interest in Historical Jesus Studies

James D. G. “Jimmy” Dunn FBA (born 21 October 1939) is a British New Testament scholar who was for many years the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity in the Department of Theology at the University of Durham, now Emeritus Lightfoot Professor. He has worked broadly within the Protestant tradition. — Wikipedia (12th October 2015) Other scholars in … Continue reading “Another Biblical Scholar Explains His Interest in Historical Jesus Studies”

Does Social Memory Theory Advance Historical Jesus Studies?

I’d like to comment on one section of the inaugural lecture of Prof Chris Keith, Chair of the New Testament and Early Christianity at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham. Its title is ‘Social Memory Theory and the Gospels: Assessing the First Decade.’ Keith is a co-blogger of The Jesus Blog. Both Tim and I have … Continue reading “Does Social Memory Theory Advance Historical Jesus Studies?”

The Memory Mavens, Part 6: How Did Paul Remember Jesus?

We have covered the subject of the apostle Paul’s silence on Jesus’ life many times on Vridar. But for quite a while now, I’ve been thinking we keep asking the same, misdirected questions. NT scholars have kept us focused on the narrow confines of the debate they want to have. But there are other questions that … Continue reading “The Memory Mavens, Part 6: How Did Paul Remember Jesus?”

The Rank-Raglan Hero-Type (and Jesus)

His mother is a virgin and he’s reputed to be the son of a god; he loses favor and is driven from his kingdom to a sorrowful death—sound familiar? In The Hero, Lord Raglan contends that the heroic figures from myth and legend are invested with a common pattern that satisfies the human desire for idealization. … Continue reading “The Rank-Raglan Hero-Type (and Jesus)”

How Ideology Creates a Historical Jesus

Among biblical scholars today are those who quite rightly are concerned with the ideology and values that are implicitly exprestext the sed in what otherwise seem to be works of objective fact and analysis. One such problematic theme that has often been expressed in publications about Christian origins is the portrayal of Christianity in terms that … Continue reading “How Ideology Creates a Historical Jesus”