Just a quick announcement that my new course titled: “The Quest for the Historical Paul: Apostle or Apostate,” is out at last. I will be launching a wider wave of publicity later this week but wanted you all to have the link first, if you are ready to dive in.…
I gave this short overview lecture recently to a group of my students and patrons members and wanted to share it with all of you. It explores the possible break between Paul and his “Gospel” and that of the Jerusalem followers of Jesus led by James the Just. You may…
I posted this some months ago but we have many new people joining this Blog Community, and for those who remember it I wanted to call you attention to it again. This is a long, very informal study of what traditions we can trace in the Torah about the “Box,”…
As some of you know, even though my academic field is ancient Mediterranean religions, including Christian Origins and late 2nd Temple Judaism, I have ended up wearing a few extra “Hats” so to speak. I would include here the archaeological side of my research along with the textual studies typical…
I learned this single CORE idea from Jonathan Z. Smith, the greatest historian of religion of our time, during the first week of the first class I had from him at the University of Chicago called simply “Hellenistic Religion.” It remains the case that very few in my academic field…
Yesterday I did an interview with Prof. Robyn Faith Walsh, one of the ten participants in this upcoming special conference on the Apostle Paul: New Investigations on the New Testament(NINT). I found her insights and approach to the texts insightful and fascinating. You won’t want to miss this one! This…
The publication of this revised and expanded 4th edition of my book Restoring Abrahamic Faith has been delayed over the past months due to pending research that I want to include. The official publication date is now October 3, 2024. The book will be published on Amazon in Kindle, Paper,…
A short audio report of my recent time in Israel with a few pictures–much more to come! https://youtu.be/dgZeFzIWEYk
I made it back last night after a gruelingly rushed trip home. I was scheduled to fly back overnight Monday, as I wanted a full day in the Old City, so I would have arrived Tuesday in the afternoon. After the slaughter of the Druze children on Sunday, several of…
In this video I narrate a short tour of some very special property on Mt Zion in Jerusalem. I recorded this today–July 27, 2024–marking my 75th trip to this city upon which I have centered much of my textual and archaeological research. On this 10 day personal trip I did…