In this 1.45 hour video Dr. Justins Sledge, who runs the Youtube channel Esoterica, interviews me on the topic of “Who Was the historical Jesus” based on the recent presentation Justin made on his channel with his own views of the topic. This is Part I, covering the basics on…
In this interview with my friend AJ Levine, we talk about the upcoming New Investigations of the New Testament conference and her topic: “Jesus and the Pharisees: Correcting Stereotypes.” The link to this “virtual” conference (Sept 26-28), which you don’t have to travel to or even attend “live” is below,…
In this second video of this mini-series “The Fading of the Jesus Family,” I explore the Gospel of John, which never names his mother, and credits its main source to a “disciple whom Jesus loved,” whose name and identity are purposely hidden. Why is this the case? What is going…
I have been thinking lately about the essential differences between Judaism and Christianity, or more properly, the kind of religion reflected in the Hebrew Bible and that of the Greek New Testament. I have long ago given up the idea of any formal affiliations with the major contemporary manifestations of…
Here are some personal reflections on the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, and the New Testament. Do they represent, at their core, the same basic faith in the Creator God, the ethical Way, and the eschatological Future of humankind? I find them a rather troubled coupling. The Christians were wise…
This thumbnail image of the video below is to represent the thousands of followers of Jesus who fled across the Jordan from Jerusalem, just north of the Dead Sea, in the year 66 CE, to escape into the Decapolis area south of Pella. James the Just, eldest surviving brother…
In this beginning video of a new mini-series “The Fading of the Jesus Family,” I begin with one of the earliest stages of writing James and the brothers of Jesus out of the story, as well as Mary Magdalene! It is quite striking–in the New Testament texts we call Luke-Acts.…
In this edited interview with Aaron Abkke and Kameron Waters on Youtube (@AaronAbke ) I take off my “academic” hat for a bit, without discarding it, and talk about a narrative and conceptual “essence” of what I call Abrahamic Faith as reflected in the Hebrew Bible. Whatever your views I…
In this 2022 lecture I present the view that Mark–which most people think of as one of our earliest Christian texts-is in fact a very JEWISH text–and further, the very first one to be written after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, proposing a way to “Follow the God…
Millions of sincere Christians believe the Turin Shroud offers something very close to a photographic image of the historical Jesus–including selected scientists, Bible scholars, and theologians–and further that it offers tangible scientific proof that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead! But what are the facts. In this video I…