“Halfway up the slope, Callahan turned back.
‘I do not apologize for my beliefs,’ he said, ‘but if I have complicated your work here in the Calla, I’m sorry.’
‘Your Man Jesus seems to me a bit of a son of a bitch when it comes to women,’ Roland said. ‘Was He ever married?’
The corners of Callahan’s mouth quirked. ‘No,’ he said, ‘but His girlfriend was a whore.’
‘Well,’ Roland said, ‘that’s a start.'”
– Stephen King, Wolves of the Calla, The Dark Tower V, Part 3, Chapter 1: Secrets.
- Joann Scurlock looks at the bronze basin featured in Solomon’s temple. She connects the basin to creation mythology, both in Israelite religion and in Mesopotamian tales.
- Free book alert! You can download the PDF of Gideon Bohak, The Sentencing of Jesus (Gzar-dina de-Yeshu): The ‘Authentic’ Jewish Protocols of the Trial of Jesus (Open Book Publishers/University of Cambridge) for free!
- Over at Reconstructed Bible, Michael digs into Amos 6:1 and posits that, despite claims that the Hebrew is corrupted (“clunky”), there is a “fossil” that can be uncovered carefully.
- John Nelson hosted a conversation between Mike Licona and Dale Allison about the resurrection of Jesus. I have to admit, nothing either scholar had to say swayed my own view on the resurrection (it didn’t happen) but I do appreciate the back and forth.
- Brandon Grafius has a new book coming out on horror and the Bible entitled Concerning Dust and Ashes: Affects of Horror in the Hebrew Bible (Oxford University Press). But why is it over $100?!?!?
- Robyn Walsh talks about whether non-canonical texts are “dangerous.”
- Texas Monthly had a really interesting piece on the late Paul Pressler, a leader in the Southern Baptist Convention, who was a serial abuser, and the attempt by SBC leadership to cover it all up. It gave me the ick. I read it through my Apple News+ subscription.
- 29/52!
The Amateur Exegete 
Cool, it’s the weekly round-up!
Regarding the debate over the historicity of the resurrection, Licona is probably one of those names that comes up frequently among apologists. But I think any sort of “minimal facts approach” is still going to have to reckon at some point with the fact that there doesn’t seem to be any sort of corroboration of the burial from early hostile or neutral sources (e.g. Josephus or Bar-Serapion), let alone the obvious slant of the gospels.
The (possible) reference from Bar-Serapion is interesting since he appears to consider “the King of the Jews” as another philosopher founding a school of followers. Given that he lived in 1st Century Syria, he probably would have been well-positioned to learn of the creed of an early church. So the notion that Jesus “survived” through his teachings kind of makes you wonder…
There’s an open letter I came across on a skeptical website asking for a formal proof of the resurrection that would hold up in a court of law. To my knowledge, the retired lawyer who wrote it has yet to receive a response.
Thanks,
J Source
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