Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
Such violent, repulsive and publicly visible acts could be interpreted as the by-product of social malignancies that have festered for a long time. Dr Khaled Abou El Fadl—an eminent Islamic jurist . . . . —provides a succinct description of how historical and social conditions interact to form a particular mentality . . . . … Continue reading “Islam and the Rise of Barbarism”
Previous two posts: (1) Propaganda in Modern Democracies and (2) “America, the most propagandised of all nations” —oo0oo— It began with the emergence of modern democracy. Historians have labeled the few decades prior to World War 1 the Age of Progress (compare the Gilded Age in the US). Business interests boomed and so did working … Continue reading “How Propaganda Subverted Democracy – the Beginning”
For all posts in this series: Roger Parvus: A Simonian Origin for Christianity One problem with accepting Mark as a Simonian/Pauline allegory (see the previous post) is the role it gives to John the Baptist. As it stands canonical Mark seems intent on presenting John as the foreshadower of Jesus. His preaching of repentance foreshadows the … Continue reading “A Simonian Origin for Christianity, Part 17: Mark and Proto-Mark”
Let’s take another set of references Richard Carrier cites to support the claim That Jewish expectations of some kind of messiah in the early Roman Empire were widespread, influential, and very diverse . . . has been well established by experts on ancient messianism.15 Carrier 2014, p. 67 I am referencing Carrier because he sets … Continue reading “Questioning Claims about Messianic Anticipations among Judeans of the Early First Century”
This post is the sequel to Did Josephus Fabricate the Origins of the Jewish Rebellion Against Rome? It is my take on Professor James S. McLaren’s chapter, “Constructing Judaean History in the Diaspora: Josephus’s Accounts of Judas” in Negotiating Diaspora: Jewish Strategies in the Roman Empire. In the previous post we covered McLaren’s analysis of the contexts, style and contents … Continue reading “Josephus Scapegoats Judas the Galilean for the War?”
Josephus lays the blame for the Jewish rebel movement squarely on the shoulders of Judas the Galilean who led some sort of movement to oppose Roman taxes around the time of the infancy of Jesus — 6 CE. From this Judas arose what Josephus labels the “Fourth Philosophy”. The other three were the Pharisees, the Sadducees … Continue reading “Did Josephus Fabricate the Origins of the Jewish Rebellion Against Rome?”
In the previous post, we looked at the basic element of form criticism. Bart Ehrman in Jesus Before the Gospels uses the findings of the form critics to explain a commonly held assumption in NT scholarship. Many, if not most, of today’s critical scholars believe the stories found in our canonical gospels survived orally over a … Continue reading “Bart Ehrman: Jesus Before the Gospels, Basic Element 3: Oral Tradition”
Look forward to reading this one: Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards by Afshon Ostovar: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are one of the most important forces in the Middle East today. As the appointed defender of Iran’s revolution, the Guards have evolved into a pillar of the Islamic Republic and the spearhead of its … Continue reading “This book looks interesting”
H/t a BCHF thread: A book due out in a few months from now, The Madness of King Jesus: The Real Reasons for His Execution by Justin Meggitt. Given the understanding that the crucifixion of Jesus is “one of the most secure facts” we have in history Justin Meggitt tackles one of the perplexing conundrums that the crucifixion has … Continue reading “The Madness of King Jesus”
[Note: This post reflects my perspective. Neil is not responsible for any of the following content. –Tim] We have Thomas Huxley to thank for the word Darwinism, which he coined in 1860 in a review of On the Origin of Species. In modern times, of course, creationists have misused the term, applying it to any … Continue reading “What Is Euhemerism?”
What will we do if an Islamist regime, which grows dewy-eyed at the mere mention of paradise, ever acquires long-range nuclear weaponry? — Sam Harris, End of Faith, p. 129 Dr. Quintan Wiktorowicz takes a more nuanced view of what it takes to tip a person into a commitment to extremism. Wiktorowicz’s explanation might be worth noting as … Continue reading “Does growing “dewy-eyed at the mere mention of Paradise” lead to suicidal terrorism?”
Abstract of a recently published article by Princeton University Professor of Classics, Brent D. Shaw: A conventional certainty is that the first state-driven persecution of Christians happened in the reign of Nero and that it involved the deaths of Peter and Paul, and the mass execution of Christians in the aftermath of the great fire … Continue reading “The Myth of Nero’s Persecution of Christians”
This post follows on from The Origins of Islamic Militancy. This time I change pace and copy a small section from pages 92 to 94 of Jason Burke’s book, The New Threat: The Past, Present, and Future of Islamic Militancy (2015). I have a lot of time for Burke’s books on this topic. He is one of the few to get … Continue reading “So why did militants turn to attack the West? — The Saudi Arabia driver”
Based on my reading of the first chapter of The New Threat: The Past, Present, and Future of Islamic Militancy by Jason Burke. . . . The turning point was in October, 1981, argues Jason Burke. Prior to the 1980s the most well-known terrorists were Leila Khaled and Carlos the Jackal. Religious agendas were very rarely found … Continue reading “The Origins of Islamic Militancy”