Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
This is the first part of a detailed review of Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony by Richard Bauckham (2006). It is in response to the discussion begun by Chris Tilling on his Chrisendom blog, and remarks I have seen from a variety of quarters indicating that this work is having quite … Continue reading “Bauckham’s Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. Chapter 1”
Western support for Israel, I have heard, is in large measure rooted in an identification with a state that represents our Judeo-Christian heritage, our values. But on to another topic…. From https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-24/truth-yoorrook/105090138 ELIZABETH BALDERSTONE: There’s many historians who’ve written a lot on this and researched in depth the story of what happened here. There were … Continue reading “Israel – Beacon of Western (White) Values in a (Dark) Middle East”
Seeking, but not finding I think I have been searching in the wrong places for the origin of the Jesus figure in our New Testament writings. Of course it would be easiest to assume that there is some truth to the gospel narratives and that there was a historical preacher by that name who was … Continue reading “Not Finding the First Jesus? Look for the Last ….”
Nina Livesey’s [NL] fourth chapter of The Letters of Paul in their Roman Literary Context makes the case for Paul’s letters being composed around the middle of the second century CE. NL refers to the earlier work of the Dutch Radical Willem Christiaan van Manen [you can read the cited section on archive.org’s Encyclopedia Biblica … Continue reading “Paul’s Letters as Second Century Writings — The Relevance of the Circumcision Question”
In a future post I will address a relatively recent paper that discusses the origin of the name of Paul in Acts. Since that paper will refer to an older publication that is not readily accessible I am posting a translation of that earlier work here, along with another note making a revision in the … Continue reading “The Name of the Apostle Paul”
What follows is what I originally planned as the second part of the previous post. My aim is to contribute towards expanding public awareness of material that is otherwise sheltered within cloisters of academic publications and paywalls. The information here covers the evidence for the Hebrew language being indigenous to Canaan. That means that the … Continue reading “The Conquest of Canaan: Observations of a Philologist”
I use two sources for this post. The first is a widely used text for advanced studies (seminaries and universities) in the “biblical history of Israel”. The second is a research conference paper by a specialist in the Middle Bronze Age Levant. Let’s get our bearings with respect to the various ages that will be … Continue reading “Problems Dating Israel’s Exodus and Conquest of Canaan”
These past few weeks I’ve been trying to untangle my way through the data strands that seem to relate to Christian origins and early development (again) and I find myself coming back to the chimerical figure of Paul (again). When I reach this point, as I have done so many times before, I tend to … Continue reading “Questioning the Identity/Historicity of the Apostle Paul”
Paul’s letter to the Galatians has “always” been understood to have been as certainly “Pauline” as his letters to the Romans and Corinthians. Other New Testament epistles (e.g. Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy) have fared less well in the authenticity stakes along with reasons explaining why someone other than Paul wrote them: difference in style … Continue reading “What Others have Written About Galatians – Harold Hoehner”
A book that concludes to assign the Epistle to the Galatians and the other main Pauline epistles to the second century requires, more than any other, a few words of introduction. Not that I believe that any preliminary remarks can remove the impression of bewilderment that such an undertaking must initially make on any theological … Continue reading “What Others have Written About Galatians (and Christian Origins) – Rudolf Steck”
Recent posts relating to King Josiah’s reforms: Why Josiah’s Reforms “Must Have Happened” – part 1 (2024-03-30) Why Josiah’s Reforms “Must Have Happened” – part 2 (2024-03-31) Why Josiah’s Reforms “Must Have Happened” – part 3 (conclusion) (2024-04-01) The Discovery of the Law in Josiah’s Day Compared with Like Discoveries (2024-04-02) Caught out (2024-04-04) Did … Continue reading “Finding a Place for King Josiah in the History of Biblical Israel”
Continuing from the previous post, here are the archaeological finds that Christoph Uehlinger suggests should be considered when deciding whether or not we have evidence outside the Bible for the reforms of Josiah, circa 622 BCE, the last quarter of the seventh century. (The finds at Arad, you will recall, were dealt with in the … Continue reading “Archaeological Evidence Behind the Narrative of Josiah’s Reform”
Finally I am catching up with where I left my earlier discussion about the historicity of the reforms of King Josiah. King Josiah — a sixteenth-generation, descendant of King David — declared all traces of foreign worship to be anathema, and indeed the cause of Judah’s current misfortunes. [He] embarked on a vigorous campaign of … Continue reading “Did King Josiah Change the Course of History?”
The most obvious objection to the previous post’s idea that the Torah was composed (or at least finally edited) in such a “cunningly ambiguous” manner as to allow divergent traditions and practices between and among Samaritans and Jews is the Samaritan tenth commandment. For Jews (or Judeans, the more appropriate term for the period we … Continue reading “The Samaritan Tenth Commandment”