In this 2006 lecture, part of a series on “Lost Christianities,” I talk about the alternative ways in which Jesus was viewed in his own time, in contrast to the Orthodox Trinitarian versions of “Christianity” that triumphed and spread to over two billion people in our own time. Arians, Ebionites,…
Some might think that the “title” of this lecture has to be incorrect–after all, is not Mary the most prominent woman in history? How could one possibly present her as marginalized? In fact, Mary, the mother of Jesus is at once the “best known” and “least known” woman in human…
When I think of Mary and the birth of Jesus, I think of Roman crucifixion—not only the crucifixion of Jesus that took place before her eyes, but the horrifying mass crucifixions she witnessed at age fifteen, her infant son in her arms, just outside Nazareth, as Galilee went up in…
Did you know that Joseph, husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is never mentioned in the gospel of Mark? Since Mark is our earliest gospel that seems all the more striking. Mark has no account of the birth of Jesus whatsoever, much less any story of the virgin birth. When Jesus…
Here is a nice review by Éliane Bedu (in English as well as French) of my forthcoming book, The Lost Mary (Knopf, 2021), already out in French: Marie: De son enfance juive à la fondation du christianisme (Flamarrion, March 2020–along with my video presentation of the French version when it was published by Flamarrion…
For the next few weeks I plan to post many of my previously published articles that have fallen off the radar of many of my readers. Some, but not nearly all, are available as PDFs on this Blog site under “Publications and Papers,” in the dropdown menu above labeled “Academic.”…
I know many of my readers either speak or read French. I am most pleased and gratified to let everyone know that the French edition of my new book, The Lost Mary: From Jewish Mother of Jesus to Virgin Mother of God (Knopf, 2021) has just been published in French by…
Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus centers around a quotation from Isaiah 7:14. Let’s look at the verse as Matthew presents it: Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found…
December 25th as the date of the birth of Jesus can be traced back to the early 3rd century CE although it did not achieve more universal recognition until the late 4th century. It is common to hear the charge that “Christmas is pagan,” based on the popularity of the…
In fact the “kerygma” or “preaching” of the apostles according to Luke, as reflected in Peter’s speeches in Acts 2:22-38 and 3:11-26, is pure “Paulinism” in terms of its basic parameters–that Christ was sent from God as Messiah, that he died for the sins of mankind, that he was raised…