Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
Sara Mandell and David Noel Freedman give us some valuable tips on how to read the pagan Greek work of “History” by Herodotus much of the biblical history of Israel (Genesis to 2 Kings) and the Gospels in their 1993 volume The Relationship Between Herodotus’ History and Primary History (Genesis to 2 Kings). Among several … Continue reading “How to Read the Gospels”
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, but doesn’t quite quack like a duck, then maybe it is not a duck. Just because we see one or even a few features in the gospels that we recognize from historical or biographical writings, we cannot assume that the gospels are therefore history or … Continue reading “Historical Imitations and Reversals in Ancient Novels — and the Gospels?”
Let’s cut to the chase. If all you have are the gospels then what can you say about the historicity of Jesus? If all we have is a story that has no corroboration external to the narrative itself to attest to its historical status, then at the most basic level we have no way of … Continue reading “When all you have is a story what can you say about history?”
Understanding the nature of a text is a significant factor in knowing how to interpret it and how to use it as historical evidence. Many scholars today, following Burridge, accept that the Gospel of Mark is a biography of the life of Jesus. The Gospel of Mark is widely considered to be the first written … Continue reading “Second thoughts on the Gospel of Mark as Biography”
In this post I outline the points of Burridge’s influential argument that the gospels belong to the genre of ancient biography. Richard A. Burridge has been central to the development of wide scholarly agreement that the Gospels are biographies (or technically βιος) with the publication of his doctoral thesis, What Are the Gospels? A Comparison … Continue reading “Are the Gospels Really Biographies? Outlining and Questioning Burridge”
I know I said I would not touch Casey’s book (Jesus of Nazareth) again for a while, but Mike Kok’s review of chapter 3 (Historical Method) on the Sheffield Biblical Studies blog does call out for some response. No archaeological evidence for Nazareth in early first century I ignored Casey’s critique of Zindler’s and Salm’s … Continue reading “Nazareth fictions, Aramaic blindspots and scholarly bias: Filling some gaps in Sheffield’s review of Casey’s ‘Jesus of Nazareth’”
Let’s make this my last post for a little while on Maurice Casey’s ad hominem stained book on the historical Jesus (Jesus of Nazareth) that will surely long stand alone as a truly independent tribute to the Huckleberry Finn criterion for historical authenticity. (robertb will heave a sigh of relief.) This post looks at the … Continue reading “The Twelve Disciples: New Insights from Emeritus Professor Maurice Casey”
Edited 13th November Maurice Casey argues that the author of the Gospel of Mark translated written Aramaic sources about Jesus as early as within ten years of the crucifixion. He expresses impatience with scholars such as those like John Dominic Crossan who “spend their whole lives in detailed examination of these primary texts” (p. 21) … Continue reading ““Make a Path”: Maurice Casey’s evidence of an Aramaic source for Mark’s Gospel, or Creative Fiction?”
I discuss here Goguel’s critique of the Christ Myth as seen through the eyes of two biblical scholars, mainly R. Joseph Hoffmann, and very briefly Christopher Price. I conclude with my own understanding of the reason (bias) underlying Hoffmann’s perspective of Goguel in his anti-mythicist arguments, and an alternative perspective from Earl Doherty. Hoffmann compares … Continue reading “Goguel’s critique of the Christ Myth. Hoffmann’s response. And Doherty”
Continuing my little series of posts reading the Bible in the context of popular ancient fiction, specifically with the Argonautica. Book 4 — Seaton’s translation of the fourth and final book of the Argonautica. (Ignore the chapter numbering in the title.) This post covers only the early portions of this book. Escape adventure and happily … Continue reading “Bible and the Argonauts: Chapter 5 (Book 4)”
This is the history and experience of Palestinians from a Palestinian view. This is, for many Westerners, the side of the story they have never heard. It is heartening to read the latest poll figures showing that most Americans do not agree that Israel should be building settlements in the West Bank and that the … Continue reading “The Weizmann Plan to “Transfer” the Palestinians”
Continuing a series of responses to Dunn’s response to Price’s chapter on Jesus mythicism. (See Historical Jesus: Five Views for all related posts.) It is quite “interesting” to regularly run across remarks in web-land about how “spot on” Dunn’s criticism of Price’s chapter is, and how so many “fully agree with everything Dunn says.” I … Continue reading “Dunn on Price (5)”
Continuing from the previous post . . . . Two of three ways Greek gods visited earthlings Jean-Pierre Vernant in Mortals and Immortals: Collected Essays (1991) notes three forms in which gods appeared when they visited earth. But dammit, Dixon cites only two of these: They simply come “to” the mortal to give that mortal … Continue reading “The baptism, the dove and the transfiguration . . . continued”
I’ve seen many positive responses to The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, but my own feeling after reading the book was disappointment at the lack of archaeological evidence they cited for their main theme: the Great Reformation of … Continue reading “Josiah’s reforms: Where is the archaeological evidence?”