Episodes
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If the sodomites did not want to rape the two angels, then why did Lot have to offer up his daughters?
What is your opinion of the Testaments of the 12 Patriarchs?
Is it possible that Luke couldn't narrate the death of Paul (in Acts) precisely because it was the Petrine christians that bumped him off? That would really throw a spanner in the works for his purpose of healing the divisions between the two factions, so it might have seemed prudent just to omit the whole sorry episode altogether.
Did the gospel writers write other works? Do we have any other works from the time period of the gospels that might have been written by one of the 4 authors? -
God tells the serpent he will slither. The assumption is that he lost his legs. The Bible doesn't say how he got around before. So was it was a winged serpent?
What gods from Greek mythology are mentioned in the Bible?
Are sports mentioned in the Bible?
Are there two sets of different ten commandments?
Judges 11:24: "Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy God giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess." Does that mean that the Hebrews believed Chemosh to be real? -
Missing episodes?
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Are there 2 competing versions of Israel crossing over the /red vSea?
Does the Bible teach the Trinity?
Are the 12 disciples the houses of the Zodiac?
Are Levi and Matthew 2 different people?
Might Noah's "bow" in the sky have been the Milky Way?
Is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob a single deity or a set of 3?
Are the creation stories of Genesis chapter one and chapters 2-3 different stories placed side by side? Or successive episodes of one story? -
Why should we think Bultmann's "Ecclesiastical Redactor" was Polycarp of Smyrna?
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Why do so many people describe the serpent from the Garden of Eden as the Devil?
When did people begin to differentiate "religion" from "philosophy"?
Why did Paul never write a thorough exposition of his beliefs/theology?
Are Genesis chapter 1 and Chapters 2-3 parts of a single story? Or 2 different stories?
Who changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday?
When Jesus tells the Jews that their father is the Devil. is he saying that Yahweh is Satan. If I’m understanding them correctly. it has been said that Jesus’s father was not the old testament God. -
Do any scholars understand Jesus to have been a philosopher like Socrates?
What do you know about Watchman Nee, Witness Lee, and "The Local Church" movement?
Why does Gerd Ludemann consider "he appeared to Peter and the Twelve" and "he appeared to James and all the apostles" to have originally been rival slogans, subsequently fused together?
1 Clement makes Clement Paul's contemporary, but wouldn't that place Paul in the 90s? -
Discussion of more of Paul George's fifty-eight items of evidence that Christianity arose late in the first century and probably as a result of the first Roman Jewish war and the destruction of the Jewish temple: e.g., patristic claims that 2nd century bishops were personally acquainted with eyewitnesses of Jesus or that the Gentile Mission began only after the destruction of the Temple, etc.
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Discussion of more of Paul George's fifty-eight items of evidence that Christianity arose late in the first century and probably as a result of the first Roman Jewish war and the destruction of the Jewish temple: e.g., patristic claims that 2nd century bishops were personally acquainted with eyewitnesses of Jesus or that the Gentile Mission began only after the destruction of the Temple, etc.
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Why do the gospels refer simply "Caiaphas" instead of the full name Joseph ben Caiaphas?
If we ended up with Paul's Christology then why do Christians get circumcised?
Any notions among scholars that Paul might have been on drugs, schizophrenic, bipolar or something?
Why did Irenaeus think Jesus died in his fifties? -
I Septuagint Daniel was translated in the 3rd century BCE, mustn't the predictions of the Hasmonean revolt of 165 have been actual predictive prophecies?
If the expression "fishers of men" as used in Habakkuk and Jeremiah denotes oppressors of Israel, doesn't the use of it to mean preachers of the gospel imply an unhistorical character for the relevant synoptic passages?
Why do the synoptic stories of Jesus' relatives visiting him seem to denigrate Mary?
Given John 3:16, the Great Commission, etc., why should Peter have been clueless when the Holy Spirit told him to evangelize the Gentile Cornelius? -
I was reading Isaiah 43 and came across this passage concerning the return of the exiles from Babylon sounds a lot like Exodus with the safe passage through water and being saved from Egypt. What’s your view on the prophetic works being used to inspire parts of the Exodus story?
You speak of why we might consider Mark written at a later date - my question is "Isn't the existence in Gospel of Mark of narrative around several delays of the Parousia mean that the gospel is initially much earlier, but then interpolated on this subject to correct previous failure? i.e., can only have previous failure if those bits were written and included much earlier? How does this impact the history of Mark’s production and its timing?
(Plus I read the Nativity stories of Matthew and Luke from my work in progress, The Heresy of Paraphrase: An Interpretive Paraphrase of the Gospels.) -
Where in your own scholarship do you think you insert yourself--your personality, your religious beliefs, your ethics, your political beliefs, your worldview--most? And how do you, as a scholar, try to avoid falling prey to that common fate?
Is there an early form of Christianity that, had it somehow won out over what became mainstream Catholic (and then eventually also Protestant) Christianity, you think would have better served humanity through the millennia? If so, how and why?
Do you think the doubting Thomas passage in John was meant to be a polemic against the gospel of Thomas which seems to have been authored and gaining traction at the same time?
Be fruitful and multiply AND Replenish the earth are two separate commands, not one joined together with a comma. In other words, God didn't command Adam and Eve to replenish the human population.
Are we to assume that some unknown author in the first century/early second century put together the so-called Q sayings? And for what purpose? Did the author ascribe the sayings to some fellow named Jesus prior to the fleshing out of the Jesus character in the gospels? Is the Q theory wholly dependent on an assumption of a historical Jesus?
A recent Facebook posting from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, showed a picture from their collection and gift shop book of a message written out on a potshard. This message, written in Aramaic from the 5th Century BCE includes the sentence "Let me know when you will be celebrating Pascha (Passover).” Doesn’t that imply it was a “moveable feast” reflecting agriculture rather than commemorating a historical occasion, the exodus?
In the Parable of the Two Sons in Matthew, it reads:
“But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. “Which of the two obeyed his father?” They replied, “The first.”
The footnote reads: "Other manuscripts read “The second.” In still other manuscripts the first son says “Yes” but does nothing, the second son says “No” but then repents and goes, and the answer to Jesus’ question is that the second son obeyed his father."
What do you think is the origin and reason behind the contradicting manuscripts of this parable? What do you think is the intended meaning?
I still find intriguing is Saul's -
I'm curious whether any of your opinions on Biblical or Christian history going from a more rare or fringe view toward a more mainstream or conservative one?
Is it not a False Dichotomy to say that the only two possibilities are Inerrant Divine Revelation and Atheism?
I'm wondering when and how the change as to understanding the nature of authority, authorship, and inspiration of the Bible came to be.
If Revelation has actual grammatical mistakes, how do most Bible translations account for those?
Does two power theology legitimize the trinity as somehow Jewish? Or is two power theology a distinct theological concept which is incompatible with the trinity?
Is there any basis for believing Jesus is the angel of the lord? -
What exactly does Orthodox Christianity understand is happening at the crucifixion regarding the incarnation and death of the Son of God? How can a timeless being die, etc.?
Why is the Last Supper/Eucharist associated with Passover and not Yom Kippur?
I don't understand how there could be an original group of Christians without an individual who prompted all of the enthusiasm about him being the Messiah in the first place. In other words, how did this concept (i.e. that Jesus - who had not liberated the Jews and had been killed by the Romans - was the Messiah) become so proliferated that there were numerous (and very different) ideas about who he was without an historical figure to inspire it all?
How did you apply Wrede’s “Messianic Secret” theory to Jesus Mythicism? Also, what might lead to the conclusion that Jesus was a revolutionary? -
It seems one of the main reasons Christianity was initially attractive was the promise of eternal life. And certainly, going to heaven was always the carrot I saw as a kid a couple thousand years after Christianity began. But isn't that sort of a cheap, crass, or selfish reason to believe in Jesus as savior, to believe in God, to follow the various rules as your church understands them? A reward?
Do you think there will be a movement to pronounce biblical proper names closer to the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic original?
If you could have your wish granted for the recovery of one lost text, what would it be?
A number of traditional scholars, most notably Bart Ehrman, REALLY dislike mythicism in general, and its presence in the online world of popular biblical studies. Why such hostility?
In the 1946 novel Independent People by the Icelandic writer Halldor Laxness, we read of an old woman who invokes "Jesuspeter." Have you ever heard of anything like this?
In Genesis 1:28 (KJV) YHWH tells the First Couple to "be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth..." Huh? What exactly are they supposed to be replenishing? The planet is just a few days old and it's hardly been "plenished" in the first place! -
THE EARLY DATING AND AUTHORSHIP OF THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS:
If you find that the swoon theory is not a “far fetched” theory, why don’t you promote it more than say mythicism, docetism, etc.?
Do you think in an earlier version Cain’s murder of Abel was actually a human sacrifice?
On a recent episode you mentioned Elijah originally being a sun god. Is there any archeological evidence of this?
I know you wonder whether Joseph of Arimathea is fictive, put in to fulfill a prophecy in Isaiah. Could it be that buried-in-a-tomb is also a plot device?
On the one hand there is the "All things are all lawful unto me," there is no sin since we are not under the Law. On the other hand, Paul repeatedly recites a list of behaviors (largely sexual behaviors) that will exclude one from eternal life. My question to you, "How do you reconcile these two things?"
My understanding is that James the Just is generally considered a minor disciple if not actually not a disciple at all. If that is the case, then how could he have become the head of the Church and the Twelve?
Could Jesus - who was wholly human and “holy" divine - ever become ill?
The “miracle” of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the story of Juan Diego has numerous parallels with Christian origins, mainly in the form of its "evidences" being thoroughly debunked. Are there other such cases?
Why the emphasis on a "sister as wife"? (1 Cor. 9:5) Were other early apostles in the habit of taking unbelieving ones? Leading to the practice being frowned upon? -
What would Friedrich Nietzsche think of the comic book character Superman?
I would like to know if you think the New Testament outlines a clear path to salvation. If so, what must a man do to be saved?
Can you please describe what you consider to be Christianities greatest contributions to human society?
What is meant by "High Christology" and "Low Christology"?
Where do you think we see the earliest textual evidence for “the invention of ancient israel” as Lemche calls it?
Is there anything in the bible telling us that reincarnation is part of the life cycle? -
Why is it that the officially sanctioned oracular devices such as the Ephod (Urim and Thummim) are considered acceptable means to discern truth, while those who practice other techniques might earn the death penalty for their efforts?
Often the biblical writers don't condemn specific cultural practices, but will speak on their difficulties, e.g., polygamous marriage. Any other examples?
Might Jesus have been a Judaized version of Zeus?
Is the story of the drunken Noah cursing Canaan a biblical version of a myth of conflict between various Sumerian, Babylonian, and Persian gods?.
Any thoughts on the Jesus stories and possible relationship to Apollo and Seleukos/Asclepius?
Could Apollo's anchor symbol have been modified to become the first appearance of the cross symbol?
Why do those whom Jesus heals and tells not to tell anyone do so anyway? And why arren't they punished?
Have you read the Primary Chronicle of the Kyvian Rus? There is a later portion where one of the Kyvian monarchs decides to investigate the larger religions and makes a decision to adopt the Byzantine version of Christianity. I would appreciate some commentary on the different schools of religious thought captured within. -
I know you think that the criterion of embarrassment is not a valid argument for the historicity of Jesus since what is embarrassing for one generation or group of Christians was not the same for another. However, the following points are startling pieces of evidence where the gospel writers are embarrassed enough to revise the story or reluctantly accept it:
1. Jesus's place of birth: Implied as being in Nazareth in Mark, but changed to Davidic/Judaean Bethlehem in Matthew and Luke.
2. The revision of the baptizing of Jesus by John in Mark and Luke to make the subservience of the baptist clear in Matthew and John.
3. Matthew's claim that Jesus' fame reached "all over Syria" even though Jesus journeys mostly in the northern Galilee (with one notable visit to Phoenicia)
4. The proclamation of Jesus in Matthew that he has not come to overturn the Law (despite pretty much doing so everywhere else) but to fulfill it.
5. The amazement of the Nazareth crowd in Mark regarding how and where Jesus, the son of an artisan-peasant, got his wisdom and knowledge of the scriptures.
6. The confusion of Jesus with John the Baptist who, according to Herod, was Jesus raised from the dead (as you have commented on). It implies the baptist was the greater figure.
7. The suffering and despair of Jesus on the cross in Mark versus the fatalist triumphalism in Luke and John.
8. The piercing of Jesus' side in John to show he really did die to defend against charges he had not been on the cross long enough (12 hours being minimum even if he had been flogged).
9. The detailed resurrection appearances in John compared with the very limited accounts of them in Mark and Matthew. -
Do you think there are any passages in the "Pauline" epistles that look like they might be written by Simon Magus?
What do you make of Valentinus’s claim that he was in the apostolic line of “Paul” and had secret teachings through Paul's disciple Theudas? If this is true, and Paul is Simon, can any Valentinian-like doctrine be found in any passages in Paul that might, therefore, be likely candidates for an original scrap of Simon's writing?
Isn't it suspicious that a Savioe should actually be named "Savior" (Yehoshua)?
Wasn't Jesus really, by "holy spirit," intending a dynamic and fresh experience of life in the present moment?
I suffer from OCD (scrupulosity) and have an intense fear of going to hell for losing my belief which is totally irrational I know, but certain sensational claims by exorcists have made me wonder if it's all real after all. How can claims like this be rationalized?
It seems it is impossible to hold in mind all facades of the jewel that is Jesus, when contemplating him, or having a personal relationship with him in one's mind. In their contemplation of him, are Christians really relating to one character or a cast of characters?
Matthew 28:9-10 seem superfluous. Why does the risen Jesus simply repeat what the angel said only a moment before?
Could it be that some of the supposed “appearances” can be explained by Jesus' early followers noticing people that reminded them of Jesus and they managed to convince themselves it really was Jesus? Because as odd as that sounds it seems to be what the two men in Lk. 24 did.
I doubt that the Flavians invented Christianity. They were so pragmatic and hard-nosed that their strategy would have been simply to crush their enemies. - Show more
