Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
Independent.co.uk Johann Hari: The loathsome smearing of Israel’s critics Thursday, 8 May 2008 In the US and Britain, there is a campaign to smear anybody who tries to describe the plight of the Palestinian people. It is an attempt to intimidate and silence – and to a large degree, it works. There is nobody these … Continue reading “Responding to Israel’s critics”
Revised May 8 2008 Continuing from a previous post: Wright argues that the narratives of the resurrection appearances in our canonical gospels are based on traditions that were set and hardened well before the gospels came to be written. Discussed one in previous post and attached comments. Two more to go: the different gospel accounts … Continue reading “Resurrection: Response to Wright, 4”
Christianity was surely up and running at least a hundred years before someone thought to assign a special day for its birthday. And one might well read the evidence in a way that indicates “orthodox” theologians hijacked Pentecost from the Jews to use it as a hostage in their campaign against “heretical” — Marcionite — … Continue reading “Pentecost, belated birthday of the church”
The earliest narrative involving the tomb of Jesus constructs that tomb from images and scenarios that suggest the author was looking back on the 70 c.e. destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Firstly, in none of the writings of Paul, generally dated well before 70 c.e., is there any mention of a tomb of Jesus. … Continue reading “The post 70 construction of Jesus’ tomb”
Immediately before the plot in Mark’s gospel reaches the point where Jesus experiences his final dramatic adventure — passing through betrayal, trial and death before entering the heavenly kingdom — Jesus delivers a long prophetic speech to his disciples. This inclusion of a detailed prophecy prior to the the hero launching out into a new … Continue reading ““The little apocalypse” — its literary function and context”
I have been rethinking Mark’s Last Passover scene in the light of: the obligations guests have towards their host at a meal the two earlier feedings of the 5000 and the 4000 other themes found in common between Mark’s gospel and the Gospel of Judas and the inclusio structure in which the eucharist is narrated … Continue reading “Mark’s attack on the eucharist?”
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?”
Tyson has presented the selective summary of views on the date of Acts (outlined in previous 3 posts) to bring to readers’ attention the fact that the current majority view for the intermediate date for Acts (80-100 c.e.) has not always held the floor. He believes recent scholarship in a number of fields invites us … Continue reading “Dating the Book of Acts: 4, the late date reconsidered (1-3)”
This is a disorganized collage of thoughts stimulated partly by the unlikely combo of John Carroll’s The Existential Jesus and Michael Patella’s The Lord of the Cosmos.
Dale and Patricia Miller and Thomas Brodie discuss the Elijah-Elishah Cycle — 1 Kgs 16:29–2 Kgs 13:25 — as a source of Mark’s gospel. Brodie: Brodie does not limit the influences on Mark to the Elijah-Elisha (E-E) narrative. He acknowledges diverse inputs from the broader Hellenistic culture. But in his “Crucial Bridge” he looks closely … Continue reading “The Elijah-Elisha Narrative and the Gospel of Mark”
Wow, I love it when I read of an idea I have often wondered about being picked up by someone else who has obviously wondered the same things, but then gone on to develop that idea in a way that forces me to start reading the basic text again from scratch. John Carroll does not … Continue reading “The Young Man in the Tomb in “The Existential Jesus””
Is there any evidence in Mark’s narratives that the author is reporting the point of view of anyone other than his own? Is there any indication that he is relaying a third party’s “eyewitness” testimony? Do we ever catch the author stepping outside his own perspective for a moment and finding himself reliant on the … Continue reading “Bauckham’s eyewitnesses vs Petersen’s narrator”
11. Transmitting the Jesus Traditions In this and the next chapter Bauckham presents his case for the manner in which the Jesus traditions were transmitted by the eyewitnesses of Jesus, in particular by the Twelve as represented by Peter. He claims that:
Symbolic Status & Authoritative Status Having passed over any need to argue that the Twelve really were an entity selected by Jesus B proceeds to explain the symbolic and prophetic significance of this group, symbolic of the hope of restoration of an idealized Israel, and prophetic of what God was doing through Jesus.