To be a fundamentalist, you have to have a book. And you have to forget the book has a history. I normally post on matters in my areas of expertise, namely, late 2nd Temple Judaism and earliest Christianity in the Greco-Roman period (“Augustus to Constantine” as my revered Chicago Professor…
Both Kindle and Print Versions Now Available on Amazon Worldwide “I have worked in linguistics for 25 years now and have been a lay reader of the Bible. Reading the new translation of Genesis is at once familiar but also like reading something I’ve not read before. There’s an…
From the lovely, elegant, and scholarly 1985 JPS translation, to the unparalleled Oxford maps, the extensive scholarly, well-balanced notes (including academic as well as rabbinic perspectives), the essays, tables, and charts in the back, with additional maps and charts splashed on the pages throughout, printed on high quality “Bible” paper…
This summer will mark my 68th trip to the Holy Land since my first visit with my family in the summer of 1962 at age 16. All but two of these trips have been since 1990. I find the number astounding looking back. By far most of these trips have…
January seems to be the month for a host of retrospective TV documentaries and specials looking back on the disasterous events outside of Waco, Texas during the 51 day siege of the Branch Davidian Mt Carmel Center in 1993. As a result David Koresh and 80 of his followers died,…
Recent polls indicate that up to 70% of Americans, both Black and White, approve of some form of corporeal punishment of children–with Evangelical Christians coming in at over 85%. 15 States in the USA explicitly permit some form of “paddling” in public schools, with 7 States not prohibiting it, leaving…
I explore this question from a biblical perspective with Dr. Robert L. Kuhn, host of the acclaimed PBS Series “Closer to Truth,” along with a host of perspectives from historians, scientists, philosophers, and theologians. You may view the whole series here, “Is This the End Time?”
Here is a segment from my various interviews with Dr. Robert Kuhn on his award-winning PBS program Closer to Truth. I am asked to address here the question “Can Different Religions All Be True?” You can view this and other interviews with me and a host of other historians, theologians,…
Here is a lecture I did over 20 years ago at Emmanuel Study Center in Athens, TN. The audience was very mixed in composition, a group of Rabbis, Jews, Torah oriented Gentiels, and Christians. It is a bit of a teaser but the complete lecture with Q&A is available through…
Happily, I come out of a Christian tradition in which the Hebrew Bible carries as much authority as the New Testament. No different weight is given to one or the other. The Bible is one, Old and New, in my particular tradition. My own interest is far more in the…