In this first major interview on my new book, The Lost Mary, I speak with Dr. Robert L. Kuhn, host of the international program “Closer to Truth,” available on PBS TV, Youtube, all major podcast outlets, and the amazing web site: Closertotruth.com. A quick overview of what the book is…
Hey everyone, here is the fourth of six interviews I have done the past few days with speakers at the upcoming “New Investigations of the New Testament” virtual conference with the theme of the “Historical Jesus.” In this fascinating interview with one of my favorite scholars, Dr. Joel Marcus, of…
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 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,…