Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
In a recent post, Neil cited a paper by Dr. Alan Kirk called “Memory Theory and Jesus Research.” While Kirk does an adequate job of explaining the current state of play in memory theory, I couldn’t help but notice yet again some misunderstandings in the ways Memory Mavens remember German critical scholarship in general and … Continue reading “Alan Kirk: Misremembering Bultmann and Wrede”
While doing a little background research on folklore and oral tradition, I happened upon something written by David Aune that confused me. Aune edited The Blackwell Companion to the New Testament, and wrote the chapter on form criticism (pp. 140-155). You probably recognize Wiley-Blackwell’s well-regarded Blackwell Companions to Religion series. Generally, I admire their clarity and … Continue reading “What Sort of Work Is K. L. Schmidt’s “Framework”?”
In mid-March this year James McGrath alerted readers to a new post by Tim O’Neill of History for Atheists, Jesus Mythicism 4: Jesus as an Amalgam of Many Figures, commending it for its take down of “amalgam Jesus” theorists for supposedly uncritically and emotionally concocting excuses to disbelieve in a historical Jesus. O’Neill inferred in … Continue reading “Much More Fully Informed History for Atheists — A Scholarly Introduction to the Two Jesus Parallels”
In my recent response to Tim O’Neill’s attempt to dismiss the significance of the parallels between Jesus son of Ananias in Josephus’s Jewish War and the Jesus of the gospels, in particular the Gospel of Mark, as without any scholarly merit (see Jesus Mythicism 4: Jesus as an Amalgam of Many Figures), I set out … Continue reading “Still Better Informed History for Atheists — More Scholars assess the Two Jesus Parallels”
Along with his contradictory rationalizations to (1) declare the parallels between Jesus son of Ananias and the gospels’ Jesus to be “hopelessly flimsy”, yet at the same time are real and strong enough to (2) point to real-world parallel historical, socio-political, religious and onomastic events and situations anyway, Tim O’Neill further adds a common sophistical … Continue reading “Even Better Informed History for Atheists: The Lincoln – Kennedy Parallels Fallacy”
Have recent posts here about two “son of man” sayings of Jesus missed their mark (claiming to be references to Daniel 7) if the term “son of man” was simply a common way for a speaker to refer to himself? Vermes argued that, in addition to being a normal term for “man”, the Aramaic bar … Continue reading “Is “Son of Man” in the Gospels a mere idiom for “I”, the speaker?”
While preparing my next post on the Trump movement’s analogues to cult experiences I tripped over a page by another historian, Ruth Morse, addressing what modern readers need to understand whenever reading works of pre-modern historians. Once again anyone aware of the methods of New Testament or early Christianity historians must surely wonder why historians … Continue reading “Can Historians Develop a Valid “Feel” for a Reliable Source?”
How reliable as historical records are the genealogies of patriarchs and the different tribes of Israel? 1977 saw the publication of Robert Wilson’s thesis, Genealogy and History in the Biblical World, a work that set the main framework for further studies of biblical genealogies. Wilson used two different studies of genealogies as a basis for … Continue reading “The Sons of Jacob and the Sons of Heracles”
Let me state at the outset here that I fully understand the actual merits of Simon Gathercole’s recent article in the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus do not matter. Its mere existence suffices for the task at hand. In other words, it is not necessary for mainstream scholarship to demonstrate that Paul’s … Continue reading “Gathercole Dabbles with Counterfactual History”
If you google around a bit you will probably be able to find this Nature article downloadable for free … The universal decay of collective memory and attention Or here …. ? 30 years it gives. Thirty. That’s one generation by some calculations. That’s how long we can expect a cultural memory of John Lennon … Continue reading “How Long Does Collective Memory Last?”
Of special interest to many readers are questions over the authenticity of passages about Jesus and John the Baptist in Josephus’s Antiquities. We know the tell-tales signs that a passage has been inserted into Josephus’s Antiquities: It breaks the narrative flow of the surrounding passage; It contradicts what is known about information from other sources … Continue reading “Interpolations in Josephus’s Antiquities of the Jews“
While scratching and poking around in new and old resources to try to piece together something of the development of scholarly views on the existence of pre-Christian interpretations of the “suffering servant” I came across a reference to a 1940s work that seemed in some respects as relevant today as way back then, at least … Continue reading “A Refreshingly Self-Aware Point of View on the Study of Christian Origins”
This post is a response to a question in the comments section. The indented colour-coded section are Bart Ehrman’s claims; all links are to other Vridar posts where I have discussed topics more fully and presented evidence for the statements made here. The earliest followers of Jesus were convinced that he was the messiah. How … Continue reading “On Bart Ehrman’s Claim Jews “Would Not Make Up” a Crucified Messiah”
So far we have presented the following seven witnesses to a Jewish, pre-Christian, belief in a Suffering Messiah: Ecclesiasticus, Interpreted the Servant Songs in Isaiah as references to a new coming of Elijah as the messiah. the Testament of Benjamin, Attributed to a messiah from the tribe of Joseph the atoning death found in Isaiah’s … Continue reading “Jewish Pre-Christian Prophecies of Suffering Servant Messiah (5)”
