Okay, ready, set, go! I just launched the new series on YouTube titled “Interpreting Bible Prophecy through the Ages”… I think this will be of great interest and benefit to lots of folks. It is so needed today, amidst all the craziness. Here is Part I. I take a broad…
Those who have done a bit of academic reading about our New Testament gospels have come across the idea of what is most often referred to as the “Q Source.” Over the years I have found that despite lots of discussion about the hypothesis few have in fact sat down…
The title of this video is purposely AUDACIOUS…since no respectable academic would ever speak of “What the Bible Really Says” about anything, since the Bible says all kinds of things about everything. And I would like to be considered such… However, the title is not mine–but the brilliant historian of…
I truly love this interview with Dom Crossan–as we so affectionately call him. What a phenomenon he has been over the years in our field–that special “Irish” force of nature, truly so. In this interview I hear a voice I have never heard so clearly, a kind of clarion CALL–that…
There is absolutely clear evidence running through the New Testament documents that the early followers of Jesus (Nazarenes) were convinced that they were living very close to the end of the Age. They expected the “Parousia” (arrival) of the Messiah within the span of their generation. This apocalyptic hope was…
The short answer is “It’s Complicated.” So much depends on what one means by “Essene” and what sources have gone into this or that use of the term–whether ancient or modern. In this interview with YouTube host Neal Sendlack (@GnosticInformant), we explore the core issues and many others related thereto,…
I officially began this new series of special classes on “Death, Afterlife, and the Future” in the ancient Western World. I plan to cover the following topics–the link below is the first: The Ancient Hebrew Ideas of Death and Afterlife Ancient Babylonian Ideas: Gilgamesh Homer and Ancient Greek Ideas Ancient…
Thirty years ago…Some of my readers remember, others were not old enough, but heard from parents, and some not even born–like many of my students in their 20s. I asked an undergrad class of 70 last year–Who has heard of Waco, the Branch Davidians, or David Koresh? Five hands went…
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…
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,…