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…
Here is a link to my Contributor page on Dr. Robert L. Kuhn’s amazing program, “Closer to Truth,” that has videos of all my interviews, as well as other information. I have known Robert for 56 years–his Ph.D. is in Brain science; mine in ancient Mediterranean history and religion. In…
Alan Segal, Life After Death: A History of Afterlife in Western Religion (Doubleday, 2004). Alan Segal was a scholar of late Antiquity with a host of influential landmark books, including Rebecca’s Children and Two Powers in Heaven–both laying new ground in understanding the intersections between Jews and Christians. In this…
I have continued my series on Youtube dealing with ideas of Death and Afterlife in the Ancient Western world. The level of interest is a total surprise for me. The first episode alone, on “Ancient Hebrew Views,” has over 200,000 views! In this tenth segment of the series I try…
I am often asked about the best programs out there for learning Greek or Hebrew without a college course or tutor. Over the years I have explored a number of language software programs, and in my view the one with the very best method for the general student is Biblingo. I…
I officially began this new series of special classes on “Death, Afterlife, and the Future” in the ancient Western World. I plan to cover the following topics–the link below is the first: The Ancient Hebrew Ideas of Death and Afterlife Ancient Babylonian Ideas: Gilgamesh Homer and Ancient Greek Ideas Ancient…
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…
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,…
Too long the origins of early Christianity and its development in late Roman antiquity has focused on ancient texts–to the neglect of important material evidence, particularly the considerable numismatic evidence of the period–and its relationship to astrological beliefs. The view arose that one’s fortune or destiny was determined by the…