Recently I was honored and pleased to be asked to fill in for Bart Ehrman’s popular Podcast on YouTube and other outlets hosted by the fabulous Megan Lewis. I offered a wide-ranging overview of the four “layers” of Paul in terms of historical sources, and we can we then say…
This exclusive March 17-28, 2023 tour I like to call “Tracking Jesus.” This unique tour, unlike most church sponsored pilgrimages, focuses on one question–“What do we know about the historical Jesus and how do we know it?” Come explore with us–on the ground and under the ground with texts, geography,…
Here is a short interview in which I lay out an interpretation of the famed “Christ Hymn” in Paul’s letter to the Philippians that so many interpreters–from mythicists to evangelical Christian believers consider to support the idea of Jesus as a pre-existent divine Being. I posted this yesterday and it…
For a bit of a change of pace, checkout this cartoon video a friend created. I only recognize myself in my dreams, but I really did rappel down Masada to get into the southern caves! See my post on the Masada Bones of Cave 2001 to find out what I…
Most trips to the Holy Land are sponsored by churches and their pastors, synagogues, or other cultural groups. In the Spring of 2023–March 17-28–I am leading a very different and unique tour–one that is oriented to the history and archaeology related to a single question–“What do we really know about…
Don’t miss this one! I recently did an update interview on some of the latest research on the James ossuary that has not been picked up by either the media or academics in the field of 2nd Temple Judaism/Jesus Movement historical studies…Much more to come, especially further, more sophisticated DNA…
I just returned from my 73rd trip to the Holy Land since I was age 16…although all but two of these journeys have been since 1990! Some of you have heard or read my narration of that very first tour which I recently put up on Youtube. I would love…
Few Bible students realize that some of the key texts in the Hebrew Bible about the “wilderness” or “desert” are specific references to what is called in Hebrew, the “Arava,” the rift valley that runs down to the Dead Sea–the lowest spot on earth–all the way into Africa. For example,…
A short note to readers: The month of October I took a break from posting on the blog due to personal family reasons–we have had two deaths in the family in recent months, as well as being out of the country the last of the month. I just returned from…
I wish all of you a Happy Yom Teru’ah, the Hebrew term for what is commonly called Rosh Hashanah–(lit. “head of the year”)–or the “Jewish New Year.” In fact, according to some Jewish traditions it is not so much the Jewish New Year, as the remembrance of the “birth…
