How and Why the Gospel of Mark Used Scripture — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 1

When I offered to post a comprehensive review of Writing With Scripture by Nathanael Vette the publisher sent me a copy and now I hope this first in a series of reviews will begin to do justice to all concerned and interested. I write primarily as a layman for interested lay readers. Who is Nathanael … Continue reading “How and Why the Gospel of Mark Used Scripture — a review of Writing with Scripture, part 1”


Ch 3 – The Sermon on the Mount

86 3. Die Bergpredigt. 3. The Sermon on the Mount. 86/87 Wir kommen zu einem Wendepunkt. Es wird sich zeigen, ob diejenige Schrift, auf welche die Geschichtsdarstellung des Lukas und Matthäus zurückweist und die im Einzelnen wie im Ganzen des Pragmatismus mit dem jetzigen Marcusevangelium*) übereinstimmen mußte, die erste Composition der evangelischen Geschichte war, oder … Continue reading “Ch 3 – The Sermon on the Mount”


Ch 4 – The Prehistory of Matthew

314 4. Die Vorgeschichte des Matthäus. 4. The prehistory of Matthew. 314/316 Jn zwei Formen konnte sich die Anschauung von dem Wunder der Empfängniß Jesu darstellen. Das Wunderbare wurde entweder durch die Engelsbotschaft an die Jungfrau einfach angekündigt, das Auffallende, daß eine Jungfrau, die noch von keinem Manne wußte, schwanger wurde, im Voraus gedeutet und … Continue reading “Ch 4 – The Prehistory of Matthew”


The Big Question We Should Be Asking of Human History

Here is an extract from The Dawn of Everything (see previous post) that I feel at liberty to quote in full since Youtube programs of public discussions (see below) of the book show co-author David Wengrow reading this section in full to his audiences: If there is a particular story we should be telling, a … Continue reading “The Big Question We Should Be Asking of Human History”


Bk 2. Birth and Childhood. Ch 2 – Childhood Story of Luke

269 2. Die Kindheitsgeschichte des Lukas. 2. The childhood story of Luke. 269 Wenn die Menschheit einmal durch ein neues Pn’ncip ausgerüttelt ist und ihren Gewohnheiten sowohl wie dem Schatz ihrer ueberlieferungen Gefahr droht, tritt immer der Gegenschlag des Alten gegen das Neue ein und haben sich sehr bald die Satzungen und ueberlieferungen, die durch … Continue reading “Bk 2. Birth and Childhood. Ch 2 – Childhood Story of Luke”


The Gospels as Figurative Narratives (Charbonnel continued)

Note the historicizing imagination at work…. We find this same phenomenon with Chateaubriand. He writes at the beginning of the fifth part of his Itinerary from Paris to Jerusalem: On October 10, early in the morning, I left Jerusalem through the Ephraim Gate, always accompanied by my trusted Ali, with the aim of examining the … Continue reading “The Gospels as Figurative Narratives (Charbonnel continued)”


Personification, redemption and substitution (Charbonnel continued)

John 11:47-52 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple … Continue reading “Personification, redemption and substitution (Charbonnel continued)”


Jesus: Incarnation of Written and Oral Torah. part 3 of 3 (Charbonnel contd)

3. The Incarnation of the two forms of the Torah, the Written Torah and the Oral Torah Nanine Charbonnel stresses the Jewishness — the “Jewish rootedness” — of the interpretations that have been discussed in this series of posts. In the words (translated) of Jacqueline Genot-Bismuth, The principle of the dissociation of the Message and … Continue reading “Jesus: Incarnation of Written and Oral Torah. part 3 of 3 (Charbonnel contd)”


Interlude: Why I Doubt the Historical Existence of Jesus

Since recent posts have in some way drawn me into the question of the historicity of Jesus once again let me set out where I stand. There is nothing new here. I have never, as far as I recall, set out an argument that Jesus did not exist. The reason? I have no interest in … Continue reading “Interlude: Why I Doubt the Historical Existence of Jesus”


How the Story of Solomon Emerged from Assyrian and Babylonian Elites — part 4

My original plan for a single post has now stretched out into four. Time to wrap up with Russell Gmirkin’s explanation for the relationship between the Solomon narrative and Assyrian records of Shalmaneser’s ninth century conquests and subsequent (eighth century) Assyrian building accounts. The close correspondence between Sennacherib’s building account of Solomon’s temple and palace … Continue reading “How the Story of Solomon Emerged from Assyrian and Babylonian Elites — part 4”


conclusion … Biblical Narratives, Archaeology, Historicity – Essays in Honour of Thomas L. Thompson

The previous posts in this series: 25th August 2020 (introduction and Part 1 and half of Part 2) 27th August 2020 (completion of Part 2) 28th August 2020 (first half of Part 3) This post concludes my overview of the festschrift to Thomas L. Thompson on his 80th birthday. I hope to post soon a … Continue reading “conclusion … Biblical Narratives, Archaeology, Historicity – Essays in Honour of Thomas L. Thompson”


Ascension of Isaiah: Questioning Three of Earl Doherty’s Arguments

Continuing from Ascension of Isaiah: Other Questions. . . .  . . . . Earl Doherty without doubt was the major contributor to the Jesus myth perspective from the 1990s through to the early 2000s. I highly respected his grasp of both the big picture and the detail, his clear-headed engagement with the scholarship, and his … Continue reading “Ascension of Isaiah: Questioning Three of Earl Doherty’s Arguments”


The Symbolic Characters in the Gospels: Personifications of Jews and Gentiles

Continuing our series on Nanine Charbonnel’s Jésus-Christ, sublime figure de paper . . . . –o– Where did the gospel characters come from? Nanine Charbonnel [NC] presents a case for the parabolic or symbolic character of the gospels. In the second chapter of the second part of Jésus-Christ, sublime figure de papier, we see how … Continue reading “The Symbolic Characters in the Gospels: Personifications of Jews and Gentiles”


How the Gospels Became History

We discuss here the second of three parts of the chapter about “scriptural fulfillments” in Nanine Charbonnel’s Jésus-Christ, Sublime Figure de Papier . . . . . . The Jewish Scriptures spoke of times that were supposed to be fulfilled in coming days and in the text of the New Testament we read of those … Continue reading “How the Gospels Became History”