In this final video of the short series dealing with the TOP TEN differences between the texts of the Bible in the Dead Sea Scrolls and our traditional Old Testament or Hebrew Bibles I go through the final Five, ending with what I think might be the most significant textual…
Given how often my position on Pantera is distorted into the three things I do not say—namely, that the biological father of Jesus was not Joseph, that Pantera was a Roman soldier who raped Mary, and that his tomb is in German. So, it kind of amazed me to get…
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to resume regular monthly posting as a blogger for the Times of Israel, which has become for me the “paper of record” in the Middle East. I have read both the Jerusalem Post and HaAretz for the past forty years, but lately I…
Dateline: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, Jerusalem Israel I flew to Israel the day before to be present for one of the most significant discoveries I have made in my entire forty year academic career! Enjoy the experience , and see the links at the end to learn much more! https://youtu.be/N1oKvLC8oN4…
One hears from most academics that the historical figure of Jesus was most likely an impoverished, illiterate, itinerate, peasant with no wider cultural or geopolitical perspective beyond the region of the lower Galilee. He grew up in a tiny hamlet of perhaps 100 people, and certainly had no acquaintance with…
Take a trip with me today on the “Biblical Time Machine,” piloted by producer David Roos and the brilliant Prof. Helen Bond. One of my favorite podcasts! Be sure and visit, browse the episodes, you will be hooked! https://www.biblicaltimemachine.com From Helen and Dave: Every good churchgoer knows that after we…
Millions of believing Christians, as well as theologians and historians, are convinced that the earliest faith in Jesus’ resurrection had to do with the assertion that his dead body was revived in a tomb–and that he walked out of that tomb on the third day after his death, as a…
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.…
This is a continuation of the topic I explored in the previous post. The assumption of many scholars is that Paul, even in his preaching of what he calls “his Gospel” to the Gentiles, was just reflecting a more open version of the core message of Jesus, the Twelve, and…
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…