Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
My recent encounter with Matthew Novenson’s Christ among the Messiahs has led me to a few other publications of his and one of them I found particularly surprising and interesting: Why Does R. Akiba Acclaim Bar Kokhba as Messiah? that appeared in a 2009 Journal for the Study of Judaism (40). (Bar Kokhba was the … Continue reading “A model history lesson (or, Why Does Rabbi Akiba Proclaim Bar Kokhba the Messiah?)”
* Mythicist Inventions: Part One – Creating the Mythical Christ from the Pagan Mystery Cults . COVERED IN THIS POST: Jesus as a dying and rising god Common creations of the religious mind The demise of James Frazer’s The Golden Bough The case for borrowing lies in syncretism Jewish and Greek forms of resurrection Paul … Continue reading “26. Earl Doherty’s Response to Bart Ehrman’s Case Against Mythicism – Part 26”
The previous post surveyed the range of arguments over whether Paul uses the word “Christ” (χριστός) as a personal name for Jesus or as a title. The answer to the question has implications for Paul’s Christology and theology. (Did he view Jesus as a messianic figure in the traditional Jewish sense or not?) I also … Continue reading “Christ among the Messiahs — Part 3b”
* A Crucified Messiah COVERED IN THIS POST: Jesus and David Koresh Was a crucified criminal believed to be the messiah? Ehrman’s “story” of a resurrection A story missing in Q and the epistles The actual picture in the epistles Did Jews invent a crucified messiah? Did Jews anticipate a suffering messiah? The sources and … Continue reading “22. Earl Doherty’s Response to Bart Ehrman’s Case Against Mythicism – Part 22”
Did the Jewish philosopher Philo influence the story-line and character-portrayals that we read in the Gospel of Mark? I cannot yet commit myself to believing he did but I am keen to follow up the question since encountering it in Reimagining Christian Origins: A Colloquium Honoring Burton L. Mack. (Mack, of course, is famous for … Continue reading “Is the Gospel of Mark Creatively Emulating Philo’s Life of Moses?”
* The Brother of the Lord . COVERED IN THIS POST: brother of the Lord the meaning of “brother” in the epistles brethren of a sect? plain meanings apologist objections: who is “the Lord”? battle of the prepositions question begging as methodology why not “brother of Jesus”? or “brothers of Jesus”? separating Cephas and James … Continue reading “20. Earl Doherty’s Response to Bart Ehrman’s Case Against Mythicism – Part 20”
Blogger Casey (of The Jesus Process ®©™ blog series now published on the internet) expresses regret and shock at the “frightful” work of Earl Doherty, notably because with a regrettable lack of information about conventional scholarship, he shows no knowledge of the fundamental work of the anthropologist E. T. Hall, who introduced the terms ‘high … Continue reading “Blogger Godfrey’s Blog Reply (2) to Blogger Casey’s Blog Post on the Internet”
* The Pauline Epistles – Part One . COVERED IN THIS POST: Born of woman, born under the Law: authentic to Paul? Jesus ministering to the Jews a “missing equation”: Paul’s Christ = the Gospel Jesus Romans 1:3 – “of David’s seed kata sarka“ “brother(s) of the Lord”: a preliminary look “the twelve” Paul’s “Lord’s … Continue reading “18. Earl Doherty’s Response to Bart Ehrman’s Case Against Mythicism – Pt.18”
One of the staunchest defenders of a mythicist view of Christ, Earl Doherty, maintains that the apostle Paul thinks that Jesus was crucified, not here on earth by the Romans, but in the spiritual realm by demonic powers. In advancing this thesis, Doherty places him self in an ironic position that characterizes many of his … Continue reading “Devious Doherty or Erring Ehrman?”
This post continues directly on from Ehrman Hides the Facts About Doherty’s Argument, Part 1. Here I show that Ehrman has suppressed the facts about what his own peers think in order to falsely accuse Doherty of arguing without scholarly merit. First, the passage in question, 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 13 For this reason we also … Continue reading “Ehrman suppresses the facts while falsely accusing Doherty: Part 2”
I have copied here the entire next chapter (by machine, not hand-typed!) by P.L. Couchoud in The Creation of Christ. My previous post in this series introduced the book section in which he will present his argument for the emergence of the Gospels and the New Testament collection as we know it. (Click Couchoud: Creation … Continue reading “Why early churches chose a Book over living prophets (Couchoud continued)”
David Fitzgerald‘s essay, Ten Beautiful Lies About Jesus, that received an Honorable Mention in the 2010 Mythicist Prize contest has been expanded into a book, Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Showed Jesus Never Existed At All. The book is clearly a hit: Nailed continues to garner more fans and accolades, and generate cranky hate mail. … Continue reading “David Fitzgerald responds to Tim O’Neill’s review of Nailed”
John Van Seters is of the view that the Biblical narrative of David is a composite of two narrative strands: one by a “Deuteronomistic Historian” (Dtr) who in essence has little but good to say about David — he is God’s faithful servant, etc. — and a later thread by one writing in the period … Continue reading “The Bathsheba Affair — Was It Only Persian Era Gossip?”
Why, when different religions meet, does syncretism sometimes follow? What need does it fulfil? This was the question in the minds of Claude Orrieux and Édouard Will in Ioudaïsmos — Hellenismos; essai sur le judaïsme judéen a l’époque hellénistique, 1986, when they sought to understand the religious reactions of Judeans living in Judea when faced … Continue reading “Bible: composed as a reaction against Greek domination?”