INTRODUCTION The central question of the Markan Gospel is found near its narrative center in Mark 8:27-30. “Who do people say that I am?” he queries the disciples on their way to Caesarea Philippi (v. 27). A flurry of answers proceeds: people have speculated he is John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the... Continue Reading →
Note: This is a post written by Chris H. (@unicornwiz) in response to comments made by Richard Carrier (see note #1 below). Chris can be reached on Twitter or at his email address biblicalhistoryskeptic32ad@gmail.com. Richard Carrier apparently responded to my article in a text message to a fellow on Facebook[1] claiming that my knowledge and reading of... Continue Reading →
The first season of Amateur Exegesis is in the books and available on iTunes, Google Play, and other podcast platforms. But I realized that it had no presence on YouTube and so I uploaded all ten episodes onto my channel for your listening pleasure. The entire first season is right at three hours and therefore... Continue Reading →
"So, reader be warned. Cultivating sensitivity to Christian anti-Judaism involves re-learning or at least re-thinking a body of material that “everybody knows.” Un-learning and re-learning, in my experience, is always challenging, often annoying, sometimes infuriating." - Heather Thiessen. @AlchemistNon has constructed a moral argument against Calvinism. For those unfamiliar with the theological system, Calvinism is... Continue Reading →
Recommended Reading: Robert A. Guelich, "The Gospels: Portraits of Jesus and His Ministry," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (June 1981), vol. 24 no. 2, 117-125. Peter R. Henriques, "Don't Print the Legend," American History (December 2018), vol. 53 no. 5, 34-41. Willard Sterne Randall, George Washington: A Life (Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 1997),... Continue Reading →
Texts discussed: Mark 7:1-23; Matthew 5:17-42, 15:1-20; Galatians 2:11-16 Recommended Reading: Darrell Bock, Mark, New Cambridge Bible Commentary (Cambridge University Press, 2015), 221.Howard Clarke, The Gospel of Matthew and Its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel (Indiana University Press, 2003), 137.Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, Yale Anchor Bible (Doubleday, 1991), 920. L. Michael White,... Continue Reading →
Note: This is a post written by Chris H. (@unicornwiz) in response to a recently published piece by @GodlessEngineer entitled "Inanna's Descent Matches Jesus' Passion Narratives." Chris can be reached on Twitter or at his email address biblicalhistoryskeptic32ad@gmail.com. *Prenote: this revision was made possible thanks to Digital HammurabiWell, today I’m going to do a basic... Continue Reading →
INTRODUCTION If you were to ask my dad how he became a Christian, he would no doubt tell you about his friend who handed him a King James Version New Testament and asked him to read the Gospel of John. As a single dad in his early 30s, struggling to raise his two daughters, coming... Continue Reading →
Texts Discussed: Mark 1:16-20; John 1:28-2:1. Recommended Reading George R. Beasley-Murray, John, second edition, WBC vol. 36 (Thomas Nelson, 1999), 36-38.Kyle Keefer, The New Testament as Literature: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 23-28.Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, In the Company of Jesus: Characters in Mark's Gospel (Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), 41-69.
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