Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (Oxford University Press, 2014), 228. The cumulative evidence, then, suggests that the Israelite confederation was composed of groups of disparate origin, including Canaanites. What would have motivated such groups to join Israel? One factor could have been the persuasive power... Continue Reading →
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (OUP: 2014), 28. Yet despite undeniable chronological and geographical discontinuities, the literary, religious, and institutional traditions of the Levant, including ancient Israel, are best understood as part of a cultural continuum that, allowing for local particularities, was consistent and... Continue Reading →
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures (Oxford University Press, 2014), 40-41. There are...important differences in content [between the two creation accounts]. For example, the first account of creation opens with a watery chaos; in the second, the world is an arid landscape. In the first, animals are... Continue Reading →
INTRODUCTION Earlier this year I wrote a short piece on the Matthean and Lukan versions of the death of Judas (Matthew 27:3-10, Acts 1:18-19).[1] In it I argued that the two accounts are fundamentally incompatible and that the standard attempts to reconcile them fall flat for a number of reasons. Recently, blogger Triggerman wrote a piece on what... Continue Reading →
Acknowledgment: I stole the title for this post (i.e. "SJ's Biblical Blunders") from @CounterApologia in a conversation he and I had on Thomason's piece. It was too good not to use! INTRODUCTION I’ve been busy with a major project that will hopefully be out either by the end of this year or the beginning of... Continue Reading →
Note: This will be the final Weekly Roundup of 2019. Claude Mariottini recently posted a piece explaining why the common Christian interpretation of Melchizedek as a Christophany doesn't add up and serves to undermine the claims made in the book of Hebrews that Jesus was a priest "according to the order of Melchizedek" (Hebrews 7:11).... Continue Reading →
I am finally getting caught up with episodes of the New Testament Review, enjoying episode 23 on Richard Bauckham's work on the hypothesis of Gospel communities and episode 24 on Judith Perkins' The Suffering Self: Pain and Narrative Representation in the Early Christian Era. This is great work by the intrepid team of Laura Robinson,... Continue Reading →
Dr. Josh Bowen of the Digital Hammurabi duo released a video not too long ago explaining Daniel 9 in its historical context, specifically the 70 weeks. Many Christians see the text as a prophecy about Jesus but this doesn't seem to be a natural fit at all and is likely about such characters as the... Continue Reading →
"This is the only life that we know we get: use it in the best way you know how. Don't wait around for a bonus life that may never come." -@Paulogia0 @Paulogia0 published a video entitled "Why I am Not a Christian" over at his YouTube channel. It isn't intended to be an exhaustive explanation... Continue Reading →
A podcast exploring the most read and least understood anthology the world has ever known.
Amateur Exegete
Recent Comments