- Where can you find Biblical Studies Carnival #208? I’m glad you asked! Phil Long has you covered. This BSC covers June and July so if you wondered where it was last month (as I did) that’s what has happened.
- NT scholar Michael Kok has created an academia.edu page. Check it out!
- YouTuber HatsoffHistory responds to Genesis Apologetics on whether Jesus shows up in the Dead Sea Scrolls, especially in Isaiah 53. (GA’s videos are honestly cringeworthy, so if you enjoy watching horrible train wrecks then you should check out their content.) As usual, Hatsoff is erudite and scholarly in his response.
- HatsoffHistory also put out another video that asks whether the Gospels circulated anonymously, responding to apologist David Pallmann. There’s a lot of great content here, even if I do disagree with his views on the authorship of Mark and Luke-Acts. Check it out!
- Over at the YouTube channel Religion for Breakfast, Andrew Henry looks at the religious beliefs of Thomas Jefferson. Spoiler alert: he wasn’t a Christian. Oh, and he wasn’t an atheist either!
- Do extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence? On a charitable interpretation of that slogan, Emerson Green argues “Yes.”
- Is the non-Magdalene Mary that appears at the cross and at the empty tomb in the Matthean Gospel none other than the mother of Jesus? Mark Goodacre looks at the data and thinks this is probably the case. (For my part, I think Goodacre is probably right, but then why does Matthew not just go ahead and call her “Mary the mother of Jesus”? Why this confounding circumlocution?)
- The Non-Alchemist put out a video summarizing his reasons for doubting Christianity. It’s complete with notes that interested viewers can follow up on, including a link to the website of yours truly. Check it out!
- Papers from a recent symposium on the Paul Within Judaism view are available in a free PDF. (HT: Michael Kok.)
- Over at his channel History for Atheists, Tim O’Neill interviewed Ken Dark (PhD, University of Cambridge), a historian and archaeologist, on the evidence for first-century Nazareth. Dark has a recently published work on this topic entitled Archaeology of Jesus’ Nazareth (OUP). I haven’t gotten my hands on it yet but I hope to at some point this year. The interview is long (almost an hour and a half) but for those interested in the topic it is indispensable. Check it out!
- What do we make of the sea monster/great fish/whale in Jonah ? In a recent video over at the Bible Unboxed channel, the host Lachlan surveys how ancient people thought of whales and their status as potential monsters of the deep!
- Margaret Mowczko posted her thoughts on Daniel 11:6 and the daughter of the king of the south, ordinary taken to be Berenice the daughter of Ptolemy II. It’s a short post but informative and those interested in the book of Daniel will find it helpful.
- Recently, Bart Ehrman interviewed Assyriologist Joshua Bowen on slavery in the ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible. It was a great conversation on the subject as Bowen has written on the topic in his book Did the Bible Endorse Slavery? That volume, which I reviewed on this site, is getting a second expanded edition! Pre-order it today!
- If you’re looking for new YouTube content to devour, I recommend the channel Potential Theism. His videos are short and he offers critiques of apologists and Mythicists alike. Check it out!
- Recently my wife and I redecorated the man cave. Gone are the black walls as well as the purple accent wall. We chose a more neutral color. I also shelled out for some new book shelves that I think fit the space a lot better. They’re sturdier and I have even more room for books!
- Speaking of my library, here are some recent additions to it!
The Amateur Exegete 