As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases with no extra cost to buyers Back in 1989, as I was beginning my career as a young assistant professor, I was asked to contribute a chapter to this most interesting topical volume: Morton Smith and R. Joseph Hoffmann, eds. What the…
The question of how the earliest followers of Jesus viewed Jesus as well as the “God of Jesus,”–that is the One God so central to most forms of Judaism, is a complex one that has been explored extensively in the field of New Testament and Christian Origins studies. I highly…
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 English translations of the Dead Sea Scroll quotation here are from Geza Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English. Note: As an Amazon…
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…
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…
I hereby offer my loyal readers a challenge–READ and study all of these blog posts during the next eight days. Whether you agree or disagree I think you will learn a lot–and this includes Jews, Christians, or others. It is on this week that the worlds of Judaism and Christianity…
I have been teaching various courses on Christian Origins as well as ancient Mediterranean religions and the emergence of Christianity in its Greco-Roman cultural and religious context for over four decades. The one question I get most often goes something like this: “Dr. Tabor, can you explain Gnosticism–what is it,…
I recently did a two-part lecture titled “Bible Prophecy: The Perils of Predicting the End of the Age,” in which I offer a cautionary overview based on my study of various apocalyptic “schemes and dreams” over the past 2500 years. From the Hebrew Bible, through various strands of Late Second…
In this three-part multi-series interview with Paul Williams, who hosts the widely popular Youtube Channel @bloggingtheology, we explore in some depth an overview of my decades long work trying to come to terms with the historical Jesus, the apostle Paul, and the emergency of something that could be distinctively called…
If you check the dropdown menu at the top of any page on my TaborBlog you will see an emerging new feature titled “The Jewish-Roman World of Jesus.” During my years at UNC Charlotte these materials were on a university web site used by my students in my courses–but since…