In the introduction to this this extended interview with Paul Williams, I update viewers a bit on my activities in April and beyond–including my Zoom meeting on April 30th with students in the Mark course. Paul Williams is the YouTube host of #BloggingTheology, we explore Mark’s view of the figure…
If you want to understand ancient ideas of astral immortality–including Jewish “gnostic” and Kabalistic circles, this exposition on how the earliest Christian astrological iconography developed is essential. Wray argues that the mysterious Migdal synagogue stone is far from just a “Temple” representation, but in fact has astrological meanings…and he has…
In this video I narrate the last night of Jesus’ life, critically and historically examined. Quite a few surprises. The Crucifixion was on Thursday, not “Good” Friday; Jesus never ate a Passover meal; he never said “eat my body; drink my blood,” and other significant insights. https://youtu.be/ReSBtcaKNh4 For more on…
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,…
This one jumped to #1 on my Youtube Channel in one hour…take a listen. The historical Jesus has been robbed and stripped of his religion as a Jew, his core Messianic ideas, and his reality as a human being–all by Hellenistic theological motifs taking over his movement in the 2nd…
My on-line mini-course on the Gospel of Mark, which was released on January 12th, is really doing well with lots of rave reviews and great questions and responses by those taking it. It is open to the public, non-credit, but lots of learning at your own pace. This course is…
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 my on-line course on Mark I try to carefully cover some of the features that make this earliest and first “story of Jesus” unique. The scene halfway through the book of Mark, in chapter 8, where Peter confesses Jesus as the “Christ,” is rebuked by Jesus as representing the…
In this short video I show that the whole idea of “Harmonizing” our four New Testament Gospels is a mistaken idea in the first place. In fact, Mark, the earliest Gospel written was viewed and strongly deficient by Matthew, who used 90% of it, as well as Luke who used…