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 →
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 →
It's back! The Weekly Roundup has returned from its hiatus since earlier this summer. Since I was responsible for the August 2019 Biblical Studies Carnival, I suspended work on the Roundup to prepare for that. But that has been submitted and so I'll resume the Roundup! Enjoy! New Testament scholar Michael Kok (The Gospel on... Continue Reading →
"To be clear, some religious people evaluate their subjective experience as a piece of the evidential pie without taking this strong of a stance – but I want to address those who attempt to build atop the 'unshakable' ground of religious experience. The epistemology illustrated creates a host of problems. If taken seriously, it is... Continue Reading →
In my experience, Christian apologetics is geared towards reinforcing the faithful, not convincing the skeptic. As I wrote last October, "It seems that pop-apologetics is nothing more than preaching to the choir."1 This in spite of the oft-repeated claim that apologetics is biblically mandated: "Always be ready to make your defense [apologian] to anyone who demands from... Continue Reading →
Over on his blog Charles Payet has a post entitled "It's the End of the World as We Knew It." Overall, it is a rather pessimistic piece and one with which I cannot help but sympathize. The very real threat of climate change, for example, almost guarantees that the world my children will inherit will be... Continue Reading →
Michael J. Kok, The Gospel on the Margins: The Reception of Mark in the Second Century (Fortpress Press, 2015), 158-159. The John Mark of the book of Acts is a composite creation, the result of harmonizing the earlier accounts of Mark as a Pauline coworker and the later association of Mark with Peter. Like 1 Peter... Continue Reading →
L. Michael White, Scripting Jesus: The Gospels in Rewrite (HarperOne, 2010), 335. There are also problems of dating in the light of current theories of Gospel relations, since the Gospel of Luke must be later than both Mark and Matthew, and thus no earlier than 80-85 CE. An earlier generation of scholars argued that Luke-Acts might... Continue Reading →
Gerd Luedemann, The Resurrection of Jesus: History, Experience, Theology (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1994), 107. Conclusion: The appearance before the 'more than 500' [1 Corinthians 15:6] as a historical phenomenon can plausibly be represented as mass ectasy which took place in the early period of the community. Given the nature of mass psychology, the stimulus towards it... Continue Reading →
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