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…
A detailed survey of our earliest sources on James–whose proper name was Jacob of Yaaqov–the brother of Jesus, was written out of the standard master narrative of Christian history. What can we know about James, by trying to reassemble all the disparate strands of evidence, from the Gospels, Acts, Paul,…
In this video I reverse the normal argument that Paul inherited the fundamentals of his “Christ Message,” from the Jerusalem Church, and then adapted and refined it for his mostly Gentile followers. https://youtu.be/7kzPsV1TN04
In the aftermath of Jodi Magness’s recent lecture on the “Burials of James, Jesus, and the Talpiot Tombs” in Bart Ehrman’s course “Archaeoolgy in the Time of Jesus” one thing was clear to me that I had not fully realized. Most treatments of the data on the Talpiot tomb research…
Reduced Price until Sunday Midnight February 25th Some of you might have seen that Bart Ehrman is promoting a new course with archaeologist Jodi Magness. The two of them are faculty together at UNC Chapel Hill. I have never enrolled in one of Bart’s courses before, though I have often…
This wonderful interview with Robert Eisenman, famous Dead Sea Scrolls scholar whose views are out of the mainstream, captures the man, his life, and his ideas. He is relaxed, reminisces, and lays out his basic theory about Christian Origins, Paul, James, and Jesus. Don’t miss this one! Check out his…
This revised post I originally wrote in 2015 and it has received an enormous amount of traffic over the years–definitely in the “Top Ten” category of over 500 posts on this Blog. I have revised it here and there but it sets forth a solution to the matter of how…
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. By using these particular links there is no increase in cost to you as the purchaser. Marie: De son enfance juive à la fondation du christianisme (Flammarion, 2020). (Kindle link). This is a translation of the forthcoming English version, The Lost Mary:…
The treatise attributed to Jesus’ brother James in the New Testament was not even considered “Christian” by many Protestant theologians such as Martin Luther. And yet this James was the leader of the followers of Jesus after the crucifixion–and held that position until his own brutal death in 63 CE…