Some Oral Remarks by Prof. James Tabor reflection on Qumran down to WacoPlenary Session: When Prophecy Fails Delivered at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, 1997 Since the release and subsequent study and translation of the entire Dead Sea Scrolls corpus in 1992, it is now possible to sketch…
The treatise attributed to Jesus’ brother James in the New Testament was not even considered “Christian” by many Protestant theologians such as Martin Luther. And yet this James was the leader of the followers of Jesus after the crucifixion–and held that position until his own brutal death in 63 CE…
I am convinced that the historical figure of Jesus began to pore over key prophetic passages in the Hebrew Bible, especially in the Isaiah and the Pslams, where he became convinced that both his identity and his destiny was laid out. After the death of his cousin John the Baptist,…
This unedited video, was sent out on March 12, 1993 as a VHS tape by David Koresh during the FBI 51 day siege of the Branch Davidian Center, outside Waco, TX. The tape was intended to show that those inside the compound were not being held against their will, allowing…
In this wide-ranging interview with Neal Sendlack host of YouTube channel @GnosticInformant, we delve into all sorts of questions regarding the the history and mythology of Masada–the last stand of Jewish patriots against the Romans during the first revolt (73 CE). One of the core mysteries of the entire story…
The on-line magazine, Popular Archaeology, which I highly recommend, recently circulated its “Top Ten” feature stories of the past decade. I was honored and pleased that one of the ten stories that my research on the historical Jesus, as related to material and textual evidence, was chosen as one of…
April 19, 2023 marks the 30th Anniversary of the tragic ending of the Branch Davidian siege by Federal authorities outside Waco, Texas. A press conference and Memorial is being held today as I update this blog post. There is much to say about “What Happened at Waco” and its aftermath,…
In the introduction to this this extended interview with Paul Williams, I update viewers a bit on my activities in April and beyond–including my Zoom meeting on April 30th with students in the Mark course. Paul Williams is the YouTube host of #BloggingTheology, we explore Mark’s view of the figure…
If you want to understand ancient ideas of astral immortality–including Jewish “gnostic” and Kabalistic circles, this exposition on how the earliest Christian astrological iconography developed is essential. Wray argues that the mysterious Migdal synagogue stone is far from just a “Temple” representation, but in fact has astrological meanings…and he has…
In this final segment of my series on Final Days of Jesus over “Holy Week” as the Christian call it, I consider the burial and empty tomb accounts in the Gospels, as well as “sightings” of Jesus. Please access the blog posts that lay out these issues in GREAT detail.…
