Search Results for: form criticism

‘I told you so!’ Why Criteria for Historical Jesus Studies Don’t Work

Morna D. Hooker cried out in the academic wilderness forty years ago against the validity of “authenticity criteria” — criteria of coherence, criteria of dissimilarity, in particular, but also of embarrassment, multiple attestation, etc — then being used to supposedly uncover the historical Jesus. Her reflections on the state of play since that time are … Continue reading “‘I told you so!’ Why Criteria for Historical Jesus Studies Don’t Work”

Paul: Oldest Witness to the Historical Jesus — ‘Is This Not the Carpenter?’

Chapter 7 of ‘Is This Not the Carpenter?’ presents what I understand are the arguments of mainstream New Testament scholarship that Paul’s epistles testify to the existence of an historical Jesus. Its author, Mogens Müller (MM), is responsible for what has been praised as the best work to date on the expression “Son of Man”. … Continue reading “Paul: Oldest Witness to the Historical Jesus — ‘Is This Not the Carpenter?’”

“The Marcionite Gospel and the Synoptic Problem: A New Suggestion”

Matthias Klinghardt responded to Mark Goodacre’s 2002 book, The Case Against Q, with an article proposing a Marcionite solution to the Synoptic Problem: “The Marcionite Gospel and the Synoptic Problem: A New Suggestion” published in Novum Testamentum, 2008. For those of us who like to be reminded, here are the traditional theories on the Synoptic … Continue reading ““The Marcionite Gospel and the Synoptic Problem: A New Suggestion””

Early Christ Myth Theorists on Paul’s and the Gospels’ Jesus: ‘Is This Not the Carpenter?’ ch. 6 continued.

When starting this post I had hoped it would complete my discussion of Robert M. Price’s chapter, “Does the Christ Myth Theory Require an Early Date for the Pauline Epistles?” in ‘Is This Not the Carpenter?’. This was meant to address Price’s reasons for thinking that the gospel narratives of Jesus — or any stories … Continue reading “Early Christ Myth Theorists on Paul’s and the Gospels’ Jesus: ‘Is This Not the Carpenter?’ ch. 6 continued.”

Why Historical Knowledge of Jesus Is Impossible: ‘Is This Not the Carpenter?’ chapter 5

Emanuel Pfoh‘s chapter in ‘Is This Not the Carpenter?’ raises the questions that I think get to the very heart of what the “historicist-mythicist” divide over Christian origins is really all about. It’s a favourite of mine, and once again like another favourite that I’ll mention again in this post, comes from an anthropological perspective. … Continue reading “Why Historical Knowledge of Jesus Is Impossible: ‘Is This Not the Carpenter?’ chapter 5”

Bruno Bauer and Today (“Is This Not the Carpenter?” — chapter 2)

This concludes my recent post on chapter 2 of Is This Not the Carpenter?, “The German Pestilence: Re-assessing Feuerbach, Strauss and Bauer” by Roland Boer. That earlier post was an overview of Roland Boer’s explanation for the emergence of radical biblical criticism in Germany in the early nineteenth century and surveyed the landmark roles of … Continue reading “Bruno Bauer and Today (“Is This Not the Carpenter?” — chapter 2)”

The German Radical Theologians: Why did they happen and what is their relevance today?

The second chapter in Is This Not the Carpenter? is an interesting discussion by fellow Aussie Roland Boer titled “The German Pestilence: Re-assessing Feuerbach, Strauss and Bauer”. (The link is to Australia’s University of Newcastle tribute page to Roland Boer as one of their “research achievers”.) It is easy to see where Leftie Red Roland … Continue reading “The German Radical Theologians: Why did they happen and what is their relevance today?”

‘Is This Not the Carpenter?’ — Introduction

What is the significance of the title of this book edited by Thomas L. Thompson and Thomas S. Verenna. The subtitle is “The Question of the Historicity of the Figure of Jesus” — “of the Figure of”, not “of Jesus”. Perhaps that helps guard the book from being seen as too bluntly opening up the … Continue reading “‘Is This Not the Carpenter?’ — Introduction”

Bart Ehrman vs. Earl Doherty. Part 29 of Earl Doherty’s Response to Bart Ehrman’s Case Against Mythicism

* Bart Ehrman vs. Earl Doherty . COVERED IN THIS POST: Using previous scholarship with a different end result Ehrman’s numerous misreadings and misrepresentations of my text Platonic (and other) ancient views of the universe What was the interpretation of the cultic myths: allegorical or literal, heavenly or earthly? among the philosophers? among the devotees … Continue reading “Bart Ehrman vs. Earl Doherty. Part 29 of Earl Doherty’s Response to Bart Ehrman’s Case Against Mythicism”

Christ among the Messiahs — Part 7

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”

The Fanboy Defense — An Excuse for Doing Nothing While the World Burns

I smoke because Picasso smoked. And because Hitler didn’t.— Albert Finney We’re all for evolution, but . . . Robert Wright, a senior editor at The Atlantic, in his recent piece called “Creationists vs. Evolutionists: An American Story,” explains why the U.S. has seen a recent uptick in the number of people who believe in … Continue reading “The Fanboy Defense — An Excuse for Doing Nothing While the World Burns”

Dr Hoffman’s Translation Guide for The Jesus Project (c)

Given recent attempts by the leader of The Jesus Process to persuade lay readers into thinking that words with common roots are in effect “the identical word” as far as anything we need to understand when interpreting Paul is concerned, it is instructive to turn to what Hoffman really knows and what he wrote about … Continue reading “Dr Hoffman’s Translation Guide for The Jesus Project (c)”

Reply to Hoffmann’s “On Not Explaining ‘Born of a Woman'”

What a response R. Joseph Hoffmann writes to my critique of his thesis (Hoffmann’s Mamzer-Jesus solution) about Paul’s “born of a woman” phrase in Galatians 4:4! He makes the most fundamental errors over the meaning of the Greek word involved — errors that anyone can correct by consulting any Greek concordance or dictionary — and … Continue reading “Reply to Hoffmann’s “On Not Explaining ‘Born of a Woman’””

How I Escaped Fundamentalism — 5 Myths about Ex-Fundies

Neil keeps telling me I need to add something to the blog to tell people a little bit about my background. That sounds pretty dull to me, but here goes. Oddly enough, one of the posts on Vridar that gets the most hits, day in and day out, is the one on the 10 Characteristics … Continue reading “How I Escaped Fundamentalism — 5 Myths about Ex-Fundies”