This is an informal lecture I gave in the monthly Zoom meeting I hold with students in my “Quest for the Historical Paul” course. The course is on-line, you work at your own pace, and as with all of my on-line courses, I meet with the students via Zoom to…
I learned this single CORE idea from Jonathan Z. Smith, the greatest historian of religion of our time, during the first week of the first class I had from him at the University of Chicago called simply “Hellenistic Religion.” It remains the case that very few in my academic field…
This is a video recording of a LIVE video lecture on Zoom I did with my students today in my “Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls” class. This is deep and complex stuff, but utterly fascinating as you get into it. I Many of you are in the course, but…
In this short video I try to put my finger on the single FATAL flaw underlying all modern interpretations of “Bible Prophecy” that plot a countdown of events leading up to the end of the World. The key is a historical reading and understanding of the texts in their original…
For the past 100 years a new form of popular Christian Prophecy belief took over much of evangelical Christianity. This interpretation rendered all the predictions of apocalyptic signs leading up to the end of the world, “Failure Proof” by a Double “Coming of Christ” idea. This essentially allows for perpetual…
Many Bible readers assume that “Bible Prophecy” refers to the FUTURE–what is called “eschatology.” In fact, as the very makeup of the Hebrew Bible demonstrates, such is not the case. Even the book of Daniel, that many would consider quintessentially “prophetic,” is not included among the Biblical Prophets. Jesus, Paul,…
Blast from the past…I gave this lecture in 2007 at an academic conference. Don’t miss the Q&A at the end. I refer to many major scholars along the way who were in the room. In these intervening years, although I have further developed these views, by and large I remain…
April 26, 2024 FIRST: I want to strongly recommend the upcoming 8-lecture on-line course that Bart Ehrman is offering “The Bible and the Quran: Comparing Their Historical Problems,” which you can watch live Sat & Sun May 4th and 5th. See link below for full details and how to sign…
The first Waco memorial was held on April 19, 1994–precisely one year after the Tragic Fire in which 74 men, women, and children burned to death. Although memorials have been held each year–including this year of 2024–there will never be another like this one. The surviving Branch Davidians who were…
I am at the ATL airport, for a flight connection, with one thing on my mind. April 19th, 1993. I am tuned in now to the Memorial Service via Zoom, which I can’t attend this year due to an out of town conference. Some of you will perhaps remember that…