Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
As a past student of American history and society I relished catching up with more recent publications a couple of years ago and one of the more interesting was America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism (2004) by Anatol Lieven. Sharing some notes from one section of this book — a discussion of … Continue reading “Millenarians and Nationalists”
The Gospel of Mark contains a story about the call of Levi, a tax collector, to follow Jesus as one of his disciples, but then mystifies readers by not listing this person in the ranks of the famous Twelve. The reason this omission is so mystifying is that the call of Levi is described in … Continue reading “The Call of Levi not to be one of the Twelve”
(the full series is archived in the “RELIGION:Book reviews:Winell” category in the right column) A dedicated religious life can be so busy (part of the problem but that’s another topic) that I used to draw up a priority list to help me keep my energies “correctly focussed” at all times. At the top of the … Continue reading “Dysfunctional fundamentalist families (6): ever-present higher purpose”
Ancient myths and the gospels are not modern novels but it’s tempting to ask questions about their characters and plots as if they were. Questions like, Why did such and such a person do this and not that? Are there not too many unlikely coincidences in this story to make it plausible? Ancient myths are … Continue reading “The wrong questions to ask about myths — and the gospels”
Following are the different criteria lists used by three authors who have studied literary borrowings within the gospels and Acts: Allison, Clark and MacDonald. Included are two extracts that discuss the ancient literary expectations and customs of authors borrowing from past masters. Names and titles are hyperlinked:
Weeden has presented reasons for thinking the story of Jesus, the son of Ananus, that has come to us through Josephus, played a significant part in customizing details of Mark’s gospel of Jesus. Indeed, this entire section of Josephus‘s Wars that cites 8 warning signs of the imminent fall of Jerusalem has several intriguing overlaps … Continue reading “Signs in Josephus, Signs in Gospels and Acts”
Following is an attempt to explain the mixed messages given the role of Peter in the post-resurrection narratives of the canonical gospels. It argues that Peter first met the resurrected Jesus, as per 1 Corinthians 15:5, some time after the writing of the gospels of Mark and Matthew but just prior to Luke’s gospel — … Continue reading “When did Peter first see the resurrected Jesus?”
When I wrote The subtext of Jesus’ family relationships — (1) I was looking at the Jesus who emerges from the gospels after they had achieved the status of being the definitive life of Jesus. The intention is to examine the psychology of the family relationships of Jesus. The idea was sparked by a much … Continue reading “The subtext of Jesus’ family relationships — (2)”
There are two different stories, their differences well known, of the circumstances surrounding Paul’s conversion and the later Jerusalem Conference in the New Testament. The Two Conversions In the Book of Acts (9:1-30) we read that Paul was persecuting the church until — Paul was struck down by a divine call on his way to … Continue reading “How Acts subverts Galatians”
I am not sure if Bishop John Shelby Spong believes in god (he speaks of a “god experience”, and of atheism as being defined as not believing in a “theistic definition of god”, which definition he also rejects) but he does believe in Jesus. This, according to his new book, Jesus for the Non-Religious: Recovering … Continue reading “Spong on Jesus’ historicity: The Nazareth connection”
ABC’s RN had the good sense to play a repeat of a Hindsight program on Anzac Day — a lecture by Robert Manne disussing the direct link between Gallipoli and the Armenian Genocide. It’s talks like these that remind me why I’m an internationalist, not a nationalist. No transcript or podcast of the talk, but … Continue reading “Gallipoli and the Armenian Genocide”
We have 5 literary sources for the life of Alexander the Great (late 4th century bce): Diodorus Siculus (1st century bce): 17th book of Universal History Quintus Curtius Rufus (1st century ce): History of Alexander Plutarch (2nd century ce): Life of Alexander Flavius Arrianus Xenophon (Arrian) (2nd century ce): Campaigns of Alexander M. Junianus Justinus … Continue reading “Comparing the sources for Alexander and Jesus”
So the truth is out. Professor Francis Moloney and Jeffrey Archer tell us how the gospels were written. Note: No eyewitnesses! No oral traditions! No historiography!
Earlier post looked at Elisha’s miracle as Mark’s principle source for the mass feeding miracles – here I list a few distinctly Moses sources, and a comparison with Matthew’s parallel accounts, summarized from Dale C. Allison Jr’s The New Moses: A Matthean Typology (pp.238-242).