Category: Ancient History
Michael D. Coogan: The Quest for Historicity of the Patriarchs
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (OUP, 2014), 89. The further removed biblical writers are from the events they describe, the less secure are modern scholars’ attempts to determine whether these events actually happened.… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: The Quest for Historicity of the Patriarchs”
Bart D. Ehrman: What Are the Gospels?
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 97. What kind of literature is a Gospel? Or, to put it somewhat differently, when ancient persons read or heard one of these books, what kinds of… Continue Reading “Bart D. Ehrman: What Are the Gospels?”
Bart Ehrman: Religion in the Ancient World
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 49-50. For most ancient persons, religion was not the way to guarantee an afterlife; it was a way to secure life in the here and now. For… Continue Reading “Bart Ehrman: Religion in the Ancient World”
The Amateur Exegete 